Black-owned, Philadelphia-based Win Win Coffee has launched a transformative technology platform to connect coffee farmers directly with buyers, creating a more ethical and streamlined process. Co-founded by Nikisha Bailey and Matthew Nam, Win Win Coffee has the vision to lead a coffee industry renaissance where every sip is a journey through the diverse narratives of the African diaspora. After Win Win Coffee was forced to close in 2020 due to pandemic restrictions, Bailey and Nam decided to source and produce their own brand of coffee. This gave them a look into the process of producing
An Atlanta-area Black-owned tech company founded by Derek Bailey hopes to change the delivery industry with the Exceeder app. Atlanta’s All-Electric Vehicle Delivery Service Exceeder is an all-electric vehicle delivery service offering sustainable electric SUVs, pickup trucks, and scooters for rent. At the heart of its innovation is the Proteus Generator, a patented gas-to-electric-circulation generator that transforms fuel into low-carbon electricity, redefining recharging for electric vehicles. “The Proteus generator basically puts the power plant onboard the vehicle, eliminating the need to plug into an external power source,” Bailey told Digital
Paul Judge And Marcelo Claure Are Raising $200M For Their Open Opportunity Fund For Diverse Startups
After buying SoftBank’s Open Opportunity Fund, Paul Judge and Marcelo Claure have announced plans to raise a $200 million fund. SoftBank Group is a Japanese multinational investment holding company focusing on investment management. Judge and Claure recently acquired the firm’s $100 million Open Opportunity Fund 1, $150 million Fund 2, and the entire portfolio. They initially planned to increase Fund 2 to $200 million, which they are now doing. A New $200M Fund The two are now raising the second Open Opportunity Fund, as they want to replicate the same winning recipe with an eye toward
Billionaires Mark Cuban and Michael Rubin agreed to invest $300,000 in Black-owned AI startup Bot-It, on a recent episode of ABC’s Shark Tank. Founded by Maurice Bachelor and Joel Griffith, Bot-It lets users automate online tasks like booking appointments, making restaurant reservations, and even securing concert tickets. Bot-It Bot-It is a new service that introduces web automation to everyday people without requiring any coding or technical skills to set up. Bachelor conceived the idea after seeing a friend struggle with completing an online task, and after searching the internet for
Black-owned StatusPRO has reached a historic milestone with a $20 million Series A funding round from Google Ventures (GV), making it one of the largest Series A of any VR gaming company. StatusPRO StatusPRO was founded by Andrew “Hawk” Hawkins and Troy Jones, who each had a unique journey that propelled them into the tech space as Black co-founders of a budding startup. Leaning on their experiences as former athletes, the duo wanted to help others better understand what it takes to compete at the highest levels from an athlete’s first point of view. Their vision manifested
Team Genius Squad, a toy brand created by 11-year-old entrepreneur and author Ava N. Simmons, has launched its new STEM toy line in Whole Foods Market stores. Team Genius Squad Simmons, also known as the STEM Princess, created Team Genius Squad to promote STEM awareness and encourage individuals to believe in themselves, identify their uniqueness, and pursue their goals. Last year, in 2023, the team decided to start in-person events and designed a STEM Mobile Lab to travel across the country. They then launched their own STEM toys, with 15
Aster has announced its $2.4 million pre-seed round to build a platform to enable women’s health providers to deliver materially better care. Aster The United States is the most dangerous and expensive high-income country for childbirth, especially for Black and Indigenous women. Black women face a nine times higher risk of maternal death than their white counterparts, regardless of wealth. The Aster app was created to help women keep track of their pregnancy, communicate with a care team on the app, and book appointments and remote monitoring. FiFi Kara co-founded the app after witnessing her
Commercial real estate business owner and broker Dustin Sutton is creating a technology to benefit golfers. Sutton’s vision is to create augmented reality (AR) — enhanced smart glasses — designed and tailored for golfers through his company, RangEZ, Inc. According to the San Diego Business Journal, Sutton said the company, which is less than a year old, aims to launch its first product by the end of 2024. “Over the past seven months, this journey has transformed from a mere idea into a tangible pursuit,” he said. RangEZ Smart Glasses RangEZ smart glasses
Latimer Ventures has announced plans for a mini-accelerator, Latimer House, for Black and Latinx founders to strengthen businesses, attract investment, and build a network. In honor of Lewis Latimer, Luke Cooper founded Latimer Ventures in 2022. The venture capital firm is focused on helping the next generation of Black and Hispanic enterprise SaaS unicorns. Latimer House Latimer House is an 8-week intensive program for Black and Latinx founders, aiming to help them get to their next growth stage, whether that’s funding or their first enterprise customer. The program also aims to help founders gain
Venture capital (VC) funding for Black entrepreneurs in the US has been decreasing since a peak following George Floyd’s murder in 2020. In 2023, Black founders in the US got only 0.48% of all venture dollars, about $661 million out of $136 billion, TechCrunch reports. This is the lowest in recent years. Peak funding in 2021 In 2020, Black founders received 0.6% of venture funding. By the first half of 2021, funding to Black entrepreneurs in the US reached nearly $1.8 billion, a fourfold increase compared to the same time
