Jibril Sulaiman launched Incluzion, a job technology provider that programmatically amplifies the remote roles of companies to BIPOC professionals, during the pandemic. He saw a gap that needed to be filled. Black workers often strategically engage in code-switching — adjusting their speech, appearance, and behaviors to optimize the comfort of others with the hopes of receiving fair treatment, quality service, and opportunities. During lockdown – studies and surveys conducted by researchers found that a lot of people of color actually preferred working from home because it meant they didn’t have to code-switch
Black Girl Ventures is mapping out its plans for the year, including a new startup accelerator program, to help elevate more female founders of color. The DC nonprofit, which supports and drives funding to early-stage companies led by Black and brown women, is accepting applications for three efforts targeting female entrepreneurs. The program aims to “change the playing field for Black and Brown women-identifying founders while closing the generational wealth gap, strengthening families, and creating a more equitable society,” the website reads. Those chosen will receive a $5,000 stipend, business resources, development
Best known for his “Crank That” song, DeAndre Cortez Way, professionally known as Soulja Boy, was able to use tech-savvy ways to launch his career as a pioneer in the digital hip hop era. His journey into the music industry is different from most artists. The Chicago-born artist initially self-published the catchy song to the internet in 2007 and uploaded the corresponding “Soulja Boy dance” on YouTube, generating hundreds of thousands of views. Now the videos sit at a comfortable 504M views – not bad for someone who was just
Sorare, the player-owned fantasy sports game leveraging NFTs, has welcomed Serena Williams as an advisor to its board of directors. One of the most iconic athletes, Williams is also an entrepreneur, brand builder, and investor at the forefront of sports and technology. Sorare is combining NFT collectibles with fantasy sports to drive long-term utility and value for NFTs on the platform and beyond, unlocking a new era of sports fandom on and off the field. Since it was founded in 2018, the company has experienced incredible demand and hypergrowth, increasing
NGOs looking to provide emergency aid to Afghanistan are turning to cryptocurrency and one of those organizations is Code to Inspire, a safe space for young Afghan women to learn computer programming. It was launched by Fereshteh Forough. But when the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August of last year, Forough feared that the group would close her school in Herat, the country’s third-largest city. The school is still ongoing with most classes online but her coding camp has now turned from a class for computing into one about survival.
I’m sure you’ve heard of the phrase ‘young people are the future’ and it’s one that seems to annoy quite a few people because it’s such a cliche. But no matter how big of a cliche it is – it’s a fact. Young people are continuing to show us that they can defy the odds, rise up against the barriers before them, and kick down doors preventing them from moving forward. One Gen-Z, Toni Fola-Alade, is doing just that. Toni is the CEO of Nomad, a digital bank for startups
Instagram has switched things up and has introduced a new way for creators to make money, kicking off a test of subscriptions for the social platform in the US. Announcing the news on Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook and chairman/CEO of its parent company Meta, said: “This will help creators earn more by offering benefits to their most engaged followers like access to exclusive Lives and Stories. “I’m excited to keep building tools for creators to make a living doing creative work and to put these tools in more creators’
According to the annual VC Diversity Survey from Chicago:Blend, 2021 did see growth in both minorities and women working in venture capital, but the city is still behind national averages. The Chicago tech scene is one of the biggest contributors to Chicago’s economy and has helped develop tech startups scale and through the first three quarters of 2021 alone, Chicago tech raised over $5.5 billion, up from $2.8 billion in 2020. 2021 saw the most venture funding since they started tracking such statistics 15 years ago. And while they can be applauded
Rapper Nas has joined US private equity firm Andreessen Horowitz and Alphabet Inc.’s Google in an investment round for Africa-focused mobile gaming platform – Carry1st. Carry1st, a South African publisher of social games and interactive content across Africa, has raised $20 million Series A from the investors. The startup, launched by Cordel Robbin-Coker, Lucy Hoffman and Tinotenda Mundangepfupfu in 2018, also received investments from Avenir and the founders of Chipper Cash, Sky Mavis and Yield Guild Games, took part. It wants to use this additional capital to scale interactive content across Africa, build the workforce and acquire new users. The
QED Investors announced today that they have hired Gbenga Ajayi, who will focus on Africa investments as part of QED’s international team. Gbenga, who joins as a partner, is the company’s first hire focused on fintech investments in Africa. He spent his career working across fintech and Africa in a variety of roles from product development and growth to marketing and partnerships. Before joining QED, he was co-founder of Kanza Ventures, a boutique seed investment, and advisory firm focused on fintech in Africa. Before that, he was product director for
