Dr. Abasi Ene-Obong, the founder of 54gene, has started a new company, Syndicate Bio. The rise and fall of 54gene In 2019, Ene-Obong founded 54gene, a Nigerian health and biotech startup, to address the gap in the genomics market. At the height of the pandemic, the organization seized the opportunity to earn more money by transforming its lab into a COVID testing center. But, as Covid cases reduced and fewer people carried out tests, many of the staff 54gene recruited had to be let go. The organization was forced to
A Google Technical Program Manager, Terysa Ridgeway, is launching Alilo the Explorer, an educational toy robot that teaches children how to code. Meet Terysa Ridgeway Ridgeway has been a Tech Program Manager at Google for almost two years. She is also the author of The Terysa Solves It book series that introduces young girls to Computer Science. The child of two teachers, Ridgeway’s fascination with technology began early. One day, her mother brought home a computer, and Ridgeway was intrigued by the data processor that allowed the keyboard’s letters to
Rajiv Ayyangar, the co-founder and CEO of Tandem, has been announced as the new CEO of Product Hunt. Product Hunt is an online community platform founded by Ryan Hoover in 2023 for makers to launch their products and consumers to find the latest and greatest in tech. The platform attracts product-loving enthusiasts who come together to share the latest apps, websites, hardware projects, and tech creations. “Product Hunt changed my life,” Ayyangar announced on Twitter. “Now I’m stepping in as CEO.” Launching on Product Hunt Founders use Product Hunt to
San Francisco-based startup Writer Inc., a generative AI platform for corporate content, has raised $100 million. Using AI to write content Writer is a generative AI startup that uses its large language models (LLMS) to let enterprises and their employees write and edit content. This may include emails, documents, and ads adhering to a company’s editorial guidelines. With the name “Writer”, the startup only produces text, removing the operation of visual content such as images and videos. Founders May Habib from Lebanon and Wassem Alshikh from Syria used their personal
Tech-based startup Remoteli connects African professionals with companies seeking to build a more diverse, skilled workforce. According to their CEO, Samuel Brooksworth, “Africa’s most educated generation has emerged from schools and universities.” Despite this, over one-third of the continent’s 420 million 15-35-year-olds are unemployed. According to Forbes Africa, the market for remote workplace services is set to grow from $20.1 billion in 2022 to $58.5 billion by 2027. Founding Remoteli London-born Ghanaian Samuel Brooksworth saw a gap in the market for a platform that could connect businesses with individuals from
As Black-owned businesses face increasing financial pressures during and after the startup stage, many of them have sadly had to close their doors. The state of Black entrepreneurship Black Americans are among the most entrepreneurial groups in the nation, with 1 in 5 Black people in the US starting their own business. From 2017 to 2020, the nation witnessed a remarkable 13.64% surge in the number of Black-owned businesses. Black-owned firms brought in an estimated $141.1 billion in gross revenue in 2020 – an impressive 11% increase since 2017. In
The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One (F1) team, fronted by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, is expanding its Accelerate 25 program. The mentorship program launched in 2020 in partnership with the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE-UK) and other organizations and is preparing to welcome its second cohort of students. Accelerate 25 Accelerate 25 is a five-year program that marked the formalization of Mercedes’ vision to become a more diverse and inclusive team. To begin the new Accelerate 25 program, they aimed to raise their entry standards and, until
Black tech entrepreneur Dedren Snead has soft-launched Subsume Studios in an Atlanta downtown hub, Underground Atlanta. According to Black Enterprise, Snead’s vision is to build a ‘Black Pixar’, revitalizing tourist attraction to promote art, culture, and technological advancement within the city. Naming the studio as “the world’s first Afrofuturism lab,” his mission with this space is to build “a template for the solutions of tomorrow.” Dedren Snead Snead is a writer, artist, game developer, creative consultant, emerging technologist and futurist from Atlanta, Georgia. He uses graphic novels, animation, gaming and
The MIT 35 Innovators Under 35 is a yearly opportunity to look at where technology is, where it’s going, and who’s taking it there. With more than 500 people nominated annually, the editors pick the most promising to reach the next round. Then, each candidate’s work is evaluated by a panel of expert judges. This year, many people of color are featured in the list of 35. Here, we’ve listed some of the Black innovators that made the MIT 2023 Under 35 List. Daniel Omeiza 31-year-old Omeiza is working to
This Hispanic Heritage Month we are spotlighting the Hispanic and Latine people shaping the tech world. What is Hispanic Heritage Month? National Hispanic Heritage Month is from September 15 to October 15, and it celebrates the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. The celebration started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was extended to 30 days in 1988. It was enacted into law on August 17, 1988, on the approval of
