Kenyan and Canadian-based solar energy platform, Solar Panda, has raised $8 million in Series A funding. The funding round was led by investors Oikocredit and Electrification Financing Initiative. The pay-as-you-go solar home system was founded by Andy Keith in 2016, to help provide clean, affordable solar energy to rural communities in Africa. The platform has already provided more than 200,000 solar home systems to households across Kenya from its 37 retail branches. “We are excited to partner with leading global impact investors Oikocredit and EDFI ElectriFI and thankful that this
Tennis legend Serena Williams has been announced as the keynote speaker for the Black Tech Week Conference, scheduled to take place in Cincinnati, OH, July 18-22. Black Tech Week, founded by Felecia Hatcher and Derick Pearson in 2016, is a minority-centered ecosystem-building festival that partners with founders, corporations, and the community to create a valuable experience for all investors, entrepreneurs, and techies of all kinds to enjoy. The event is committed to bringing Black tech founders, influencers, and innovators together to create memorable experiences centered around Black culture and inclusive
Earlier this year, on February 13th, Sporting Lagos FC played its first-ever football match, which ended in a draw. The club, which currently plays in the Nigerian National League, the country’s second tier, is the brainchild of Shola Akinlade, co-founder and CEO of financial technology company Paystack, which he says was acquired for more than $200 million in 2020 by Irish American financial services company Stripe. Akinlade says he intends for Sporting Lagos to be a platform for community development and social change. But managing a football club in Nigeria is often
Joelle Mbatchou, one of a few dozen people of color to make MIT’s Innovators Under 35 list this year, has done what some may describe as exceptional work over the years in the AI space. The 32-year-old has developed a machine-learning model called Regenie that makes analyzing the data quicker and cheaper while reducing the amount of computing power required. The method could allow researchers to identify genetic variants associated with specific diseases more easily. “With the increasing number of collaborations being established across large biobanks, many of them involving individuals
Sexual harassment, bullying, and racist stereotyping are common in the technology industry, creating a culture that drives underrepresented employees out of their jobs. This is something we’ve known for a while due to the extensive studies and investigations. A 2017 survey of more than 2,000 people who left tech jobs in the last three years found that 1 in 10 women in tech experience unwanted sexual attention, and nearly 1 in 4 people of color face stereotyping. The same year the study was published, Qichen Zhang quit her job at
Banking platform BMO recently announced its partnership with the Black Professionals in Tech Network (BPTN), North America’s largest community of Black tech and business professionals. The partnership will focus on supporting and providing opportunities for Black professionals in the financial services industry. It will also help the banking platform increase representation of Black colleagues by bridging the network gap. BMO’s recent announcement with BPTN falls under their Zero Barriers to Inclusion Strategy, highlighting its critical goals for the year. The Inclusion Strategy includes reaching new hiring targets and providing access
Uber’s rival, Bolt, has opened its first African headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The new office will serve as a regional hub for the top managers and staff running operations across the continent. Bolt, which Markus Villig founded in 2013, has more than 100 million customers in over 45 countries. The company operates in seven countries across Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and Tunisia. The famous ride-hailing company decided to open its first regional hub in Africa due to rapidly growing demand. The head office will be
Timbaland and Swizz Beats co-founded Verzuz during the peak of the first pandemic. The platform has provided millions of viewers with entertainment from the comfort of their homes. The show, which sparked success after hosting some exciting head-to-head music battles, was acquired by Triller in 2021. The deal included Swizz Beats and Timbaland directing a portion of their equity stake to 43 artists who have made appearances on the platform. The agreement also involved the award-winning producers overseeing Triller’s music strategy. Many speculated the video app acquiring Verzuz would impact
Black-founded startups recently saw record amounts of investment, with quarterly funding commitments nearing or even topping $1 billion. But according to new data from Crunchbase, venture capital funding has dropped significantly in the second quarter of 2022, down to just $324 million. So far in 2022, only 100 U.S. startups with a Black founder have received funding, with $100 million invested in seed rounds, $591 million in early-stage rounds, and approximately $876 million in later-stage rounds. Startups with at least one Black founder received 1.9% of deal counts and 1.2% of
The National Football League has announced its partnership with Ice Cube’s Contract With Black America Institute (CWBA) to support Black-owned businesses and increase diversity amongst NFL vendors. In addition, the partnership aims to boost the economic equity within Black communities by tackling the wealth gap and offering various opportunities in the financial, tech, and production sectors. The CWBA was launched in 2020 by rapper, actor, and filmmaker Ice Cube, alongside his business partner and entertainment lawyer, Jeff Kwatinetz, and works to address the systemic racism in the sports industry. In
