California’s civil rights regulator is investigating Google’s treatment of Black female workers following alleged incidents of harassment and discrimination, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship, a firm helping Black entrepreneurs with mentorship and networking, is set to receive a $1 million donation and partnership as it ramps up programming after more than a year of pandemic-related delays. It has now raised more than $34 million from about 48 partners to build out its facilities and resources, CEO Jay Bailey said. And the Global financial technology company Fiserv Inc. (Nasdaq: FISV) is the latest corporate giant to support the center.
And with a more pronounced focus to increase innovative education and close society’s opportunity gap, DeVry University has added two prominent Latina leaders to help in that effort.
Black tech entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom are not shying away from speaking about the difficulties of getting funding from investors. Now they say they have to rely on foreign investors to get their businesses off the ground. When I first heard that this was happening – I wasn’t entirely shocked because this conversation had been long brewing for many years now. Between 2009 and 2019, only 0.24% of all venture capital available to UK startups went to just 38 Black founders, according to Extend Ventures, a non-profit that tracks the
Google has announced that it has made the first investment from its Africa Investment Fund in Ugandan super app SafeBoda. The undisclosed investment comes two months after Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced the tech giant’s intentions to commit $1 billion over the next five years in “tech-led initiatives”, which includes a $50 million Africa Investment Fund targeted at early- and growth-stage startups on the continent. SafeBoda has rarely spoken publicly of any of its funding rounds since its inception in 2017. Still, people who know the company’s dealings say it has raised over $20 million, according to TechCrunch.
A female-centered private equity fund dubbed Alitheia IDF has raised $100 million to support “gender-diverse businesses” in Africa. The news comes just one year after raising $75 million from investors. This is a massive achievement as women-only founders have received less than 1% of the nearly $5 billion raised by startups across Africa so far this year. This time around, involved in the fundraising was the African Development Bank, Bank of Industry Nigeria, FinDev Canada, Dutch Good Growth Fund, and the European Investment Bank. Closing the round, European Investment Bank (EIB) committed $24.6 million.
Microsoft has finally shared an update on promoting racial equity in the US by investing in and working with Black and African American-led financial institutions, suppliers, and partners. It reports that it has reached its goal of committing $100 million to mission-driven banks, which provide capital to diverse communities. The giant has also beat its target of doubling the percentage of transactions it conducts with Black and African American-owned financial institutions. As part of its Black Growth Partner Initiative, Microsoft created $50 million funds to invest in small businesses and startups
Kenyan-based startup Wowzi — created to transform social media users into brand influencers — has secured $3.2 million in its latest seed round. Africa-focused venture capital firm 4DX Ventures led the round. Other investors include To.org, Golden Palm Investments, LoftyInc Capital, Afropreneur Angels, and Future Africa. Andela co-founder Christina Sass and former Andela executives Jessica Chervin and Justin Ziegler. The new funds will spearhead operations in Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa to fulfill its goal to expand beyond their current scope of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. The platform is designed to help brands automate
According to government figures, Nigeria has been recording massive growth in its information technology sector, but only one-fifth of IT workers are women. Now aid groups are trying to help women and girls enter the IT world by teaching them about blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. And despite the lack of gender diversity on investment boards in the country, the funding gap, or even an unconscious bias that has frequently been reported – many female African tech entrepreneurs continue to impact the industry remarkably. For example, a report by The Women
Andreessen Horowitz’s Talent x Opportunity (TxO) Fund is a 6-month long accelerator program created for ambitious, underserved founders who have great ideas but lack the typical Silicon Valley startup background and resources. The effort will be led by Nait Jones, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz for the past five years; previously, he worked with their portfolio founders on their go-to-market plans. He moved to Silicon Valley from the midwest almost a decade ago when starting his own company, and as a self-described outsider, he had to overcome some of the same challenges
