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For founders

Raising venture capital is a daunting experience for Black women as both the UK and US startup ecosystems fail Black entrepreneurs with innovative ideas. Furthermore, it’s clear that an entrepreneur’s ethnicity can affect their access to VC in the UK, with Black founders receiving just 0.24% and Black female founders receiving 0.02% of the total venture capital invested over the past 10 years. And before 2021, only 93 Black female founders in the US had raised $1 million or more in venture capital, according to ProjectDiane, a biennial report on the

Morgan Stanley’s recent panel discussion to mark Black History Month—featuring three alumni from our in-house accelerator for women and multicultural entrepreneurs—explored issues of access to funding, the Black wealth gap, and other challenges unique to Black founders. The conversation, entitled “A Founder’s Journey: Lessons in Resilience, Vision and Innovation,” moderated by Executive Director LaToya Wilson – included Tiffanie K. Stanard, founder, and CEO of Stimulus, a relationship intelligence SaaS platform that uses data and analytics to simplify how companies make purchasing decisions. B.J. Wiley Williams, founder and CEO of SoHookd, a wellness

Investors will be with you for a long time – and ending the relationship can be harder than getting a divorce, says June Angelides, a business owner, venture capitalist, and columnist. Before we discuss the business tips she’s shared in her most recent FT column. Here’s a breakdown of who she is for those of you who don’t know. Angelides was raised in Lagos, Nigeria where she had an early introduction to entrepreneurship through her family. Her uncle Ben Murray Bruce founded Silverbird, the first cinema in Nigeria. She recalled in an interview

The climate of today means if you want to reach a widespread audience you need to utilize social media. One key tool for founders and those looking for new tech opportunities is Linkedin – it’s the place to go for job offers, meeting potential investors, building your company and personal brand, and networking. With more than 774 million members and its focus on business, LinkedIn offers a valuable opportunity for industry professionals to support their businesses marketing goals. From my experience, it seems to be the best place for building connections with

When creating a startup, you go through a few hurdles along the way – from financial challenges to picking the right co-founder that will help spearhead the company with you. It’s never an easy journey, and you should never believe anyone that tells you otherwise, so it’s always essential to have a mentor or an advisor who can share their mistakes and lessons – so you don’t make the same errors. Unfortunately, not everyone has the privilege of landing a mentor or sponsor that will give you the time of

Deciding on the right type of funding for your business can be difficult. In fact, it’s considered one of the hardest and most stressful things you could do as it can make or break your startup. Every funding option has advantages and disadvantages, and some are better suited to certain types of businesses and business models. It’s important to explore the funding options available before deciding how to build your company as the route you take will have some serious consequences. Here we break down what some of the keywords

Black entrepreneurs know the climb to getting substantial funding from investors can be practically a vertical ascent. Venture-backed founders tend to all look the same with 73 percent of all founding teams composed exclusively of men while 60 percent of founding teams are exclusively White. But here at POCIT news, we believe our community of great founders, engineers, and designers can do it all and our job is to provide you with insight, tips, and timely news. We’ve compiled a list of all the places you can get funding as

In the US, accelerators like Techstars and Y Combinator are the most active investors in Black founders, followed by early-stage investors like Backstage Capital and Kapor Capital that focus on diverse founders. As we already know, Black founders often get a small portion of the pie when it comes to investment – which is why it’s essential to highlight the VCs dedicated to investing in minority communities and those who have a history of supporting under-appreciated groups. We’ve sifted through a list created by the Black Founders list of VC firms across the US that

Ivan Beckley is a student doctor, host of The Bias Diagnosis, and co-founder and CEO at Suvera, a digital service helping clinicians follow up their patients virtually. Earlier this month, Google announced that Suvera was one of 30 Black-led startups selected for their $2 million (£1.5 million) European Black Founders Fund. I caught up with Ivan a few days after he sat his medical school final exams and asked him where it all began. “I became interested in the startup scene around the time I started medical school, I would

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