Meek Mill is reportedly developing an AI tool that will transform lives. “Working on a ai tool that can change the world lol,” the rapper wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on August 31. He has been teasing the project on X in recent weeks, suggesting it is one of his most ambitious ventures yet. “I can’t wait to get a chance to show the world how smart I really am!” he said on August 25. Days later, on September 2, he added: “I have some genius tech guy that’s building
Tariqua “Tai” Nehisi, founder of Organizely, an AI-powered future workplace platform, is set to launch Tulsa Tech Week on Sept. 22. After launching her startup in 2021, Nehisi found herself in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a program called Tulsa Remote in the following year. “I made a decision to move here at least for the year and see what Tulsa looked like. And in that moving here, I came at a time when there was a really great concerted effort to support the rebuilding of Black Wall Street through a technical lens with Black- and brown-focused
Every entrepreneur knows that running a business is not for the fainthearted. You’re often working several hours a day, balancing several tasks, managing your own cash flow, and then there’s the extra burden of being a Black or Brown entrepreneur. 81% of minority founders experience mental health issues, with 60% experiencing anxiety and 20% dealing with depression. It’s an aspect of being a business person that isn’t spoken about widely enough, especially for minorities. This is what drove wellness entrepreneur and founder of BodyCompleteRx, Samia Gore, to launch Foundnwell, a community-driven non-profit
Create, an app-building platform, has secured $8.5 million in total funding, including a $5.5 million round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Other investors included Shopify, Front, Zapier, Intercom, Shippo, and Ben’s Bites. Its new product, Anything, which went live on August 7, reached 3.2 million views, over 30,000 new sign‑ups, within 72 hours of launching. It also tripled the number of paid subscriptions compared to the week before, bringing the company’s total registered users to exceed 500,000, as reported by Tech Funding News. What does Anything do? While competitors were focusing
Confido has raised $20 million in total funding across its Seed and Series A rounds. Footwork led the rounds with participation from Watchfire Ventures, Y Combinator, Boulder Food Group II, Fintech Fund, Barrel Ventures, and a group of strategic angels. The startup, founded in 2022 by Justin Hunter and Kara Holinski, began by automating Cash Application and Deductions Management. Over the past year, it expanded into Trade Promotion Management and Sales Forecasting, with the mission of giving accounting, finance, and sales teams a single platform to plan, execute, and analyze
Rebundle, the first US-based, plant-based braiding hair company, now has a patent for its flagship innovation. In June, the brand’s founder, Ciara Imani May, announced that the company learned the United States Patent and Trademark Office approved Rebundle’s patent for its hair extension line called braidbetter. “The patent protects the core innovation behind braidbetter, giving it its unique texture, durability, and scalp comfort,” May said in an Instagram post. “For our community, it’s further proof that this product is protected, scalable, and here to stay.” Rebundle solving a solution After May
Casap has raised $25 million in new funding to help banks tackle credit and debit card disputes. The new capital brings its total funding to $33.5 million, according to a press release. The funding round was led by Emergence with participation from Lightspeed, Primary Ventures, SoFi, and others. The startup aims to change the way financial institutions handle disputes and reduce fraud cases. Its intelligent automation accelerates resolutions, cuts fraud by more than half, and eliminates friction for consumers. This capital will allow the company to expand its first-party fraud
In July, Diarrha N’Diaye-Mbaye announced that her beauty brand Ami Colé will close in September. As one of the few Black women to have raised more than $1 million in venture capital, N’Diaye-Mbaye’s exit marks a loss not just for beauty lovers, but for Black female founders, too. Ami Colé had a devoted following, but the brand struggled to compete with industry giants backed by deep-pocketed corporations. “I couldn’t compete with the deep pockets of corporate brands; at retail stores, prime shelf space comes at a price, and we couldn’t
Arif Gursel, founder and CEO of Pan-African Center for Empowerment (PACE), has launched SEA619, a program created to support Black entrepreneurs in the Seattle area. Gursel is launching multiple programs within SEA619, taking an individual approach for each business. The organization’s name is a combination of the Seattle-Tacoma airport code, SEA, and 619 to honor Juneteenth. “I believe people come into things at varying needs, skill sets, and understandings, and when you try to put something on a rail, some of those carts go faster. Some of those carts go
Lava Payments, a fintech startup founded by Mitchell Jones to transform AI-driven transactions, has secured $5.8 million in seed funding. The round was led by Lerer Hippeau and supported by Harlem Capital, Streamlined Ventures, and Westbound. Lava is a digital wallet that lets merchants use usage credits to facilitate transactions, according to TechCrunch. Why Lava Exists Jones launched the startup after leaving his previous Y Combinator-backed fintech startup, Lendtable, where he began experimenting with AI. While building a basic form-filling agent, he continued to experience the same issues. “I was using
