A Black-led, Gen Z fintech startup providing income-constrained individuals investment opportunities has announced an $18M Series A investment round. The group of diverse investors rallying up to fund Lendtable’s future included SoftBank’s SB Opportunity Fund, Valor Equity Partners, and CEOs of Complex Networks and Social Finance, Inc. The fintech firm, run by founders under 30-years-old, has already disbursed over $2.4 million in match benefits to hundreds of employees in just a year, running the gamut from those employed by small consumer brand companies to Fortune 500 companies like Google, Microsoft,
PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s charitable foundation has announced a five-year $16.8 million grant to Howard University to build The Howard University and PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship. The center will support expanded opportunities for Black entrepreneurship with enhanced educational, leadership, and capacity-building resources and programs nationwide. As a part of PNC’s wider commitment to providing over $1.5 billion in funds to create “economic empowerment” for Black Americans, this donation is just one of the financial institution’s countless plans to support the community. It plans to provide $88 billion worth of investments,
Beyonce has expanded her partnership with Peloton and is releasing another series today in the hope of inspiring HBCU students on their fitness journey. Peloton will also be donating their bikes to HBCU fitness facilities this fall as part of the collaboration. The 72-hour fitness session with Beyonce will include 17 classes spanning three days with content streaming globally from Peloton Studios in London and New York. For the first time, Peloton will include classes in three languages — English, German and Spanish — to be more inclusive. According to a press release
Netflix and Howard University have established a $5.4 million scholarship, called the Chadwick A. Boseman Memorial Scholarship, in honor of the esteemed actor. The scholarship will cover four years of tuition at Howard’s College of Fine Arts for one student every year. Students who receive the scholarship will have demonstrated a drive for excellence, leadership, respect, empathy, passion, and exceptional skills in the arts, “reminiscent of Boseman,” according to a statement on the university’s website. “It is with immense pleasure and deep gratitude that we announce the creation of an
In many ways, Caleb Anderson is like any other child his age—he enjoys swimming in his family’s pool at their home in Marietta, Georgia, and loves watching Marvel movies. But the one thing that makes him stand out is that at the tender age of 12, he enrolled in college to study aerospace engineering. The Georgia Institute of Technology student’s journey reportedly started at just 3-weeks old when his mother noticed he was mimicking her motions. At six months, Anderson was reading, and by the time he was nine months
Mikayla Harris, a senior from Morgan State University, a school that breeds excellence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, was awarded $15,000 from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation for 2021. Harris is Morgan State University’s second consecutive scholar to win the highly competitive Astronaut Scholarship. In a nationwide selection, 60 top junior and senior STEM students across 44 universities were awarded the scholarship, which aids students with mentors, professional and personal development, and networking with astronauts, C-suite level executives, and industry leaders to help advance their careers. Harris said she applied to represent
US tech giant Adobe has donated $3million to historically Black colleges and universities and a Hispanic serving institution to help minority students get into tech. Bowie State University, Winston-Salem State University, and a school catering to Hispanic students will receive $1 million donations under Adobe’s new Anchor School Program. The program aims to “provide students with training, career readiness programs, internships, financial assistance, and digital tools.” Adobe’s chief talent, diversity, and inclusion officer, Brian Miller, told Fortune that it’s a “deep, focused partnership” that “really” allows the company to expose
Howard University has been targeted by cybercriminals in a ransomware attack which has forced the school to cancel Tuesday’s lessons and ban the use of both of its dining halls. In a statement found on the university’s website, it revealed that on September 3 its information technology team had detected “unusual” activity on the school’s network. As per protocol and to avoid potential criminal activity – the network was immediately shut down in order for the issue to be investigated further. But its teams have come to the conclusion –
We rounded up a list of talented, passionate, and hardworking tech entrepreneurs who are inspiring business innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Here is a short intro on four AfroLatinX who are making waves in the industry and are ones sure to watch! The Founder Providing Capital to Underrepresented Entrepreneurs A first-generation Afro-LatinX immigrant is undoubtedly making a name for himself in the startup world, using his talents to create a space for more people like him in tech. Luis Martinez is the founder of We Tha Plug, an incubator designed to help
This 27 year old Zimbabwean Teacher Scaled a Tutoring Business Just Using WhatsApp – Techish Podcast
Techish is back with a brand new episode! Abadesi and Michael discuss the story of Maxwell Chimedza who used his cellphone and WhatsApp to start a tutoring academy for his sudents in Zimbabwe during the pandemic. (16:50) They also break down: Black TikTokers on strike (0:50) White privilege, raising capital, and starting companies in Africa (8:50) Facebook hits a trillion and tech monopolies (21:50) Charles D. King talks privilege in film and challenging conventional narratives (29:08) Sponsors Get your ticket for Inbound 2021! Speakers include Oprah Winfrey, Tristan Walker and more! Register for












