According to a poll carried out by CoderPad, a candidate assessment platform, a majority of tech recruiters believe there is bias in the job hiring process. The research, which included participants from 131 countries, had 4,000 tech workers respond and almost 4,000 recruiters, half of whom were based in Europe. Almost 65 percent of them said bias was an issue in tech recruitment. Lack of diversity in tech is an issue that has been around for decades – that we know. Back in 2014, big tech companies acknowledged the gap and made
The fund, dubbed the Norrsken22 African Tech Growth Fund, reached its first close of $110 million last week and it’s the latest fund launched by Norrsken after closing €125 million impact fund for European startups last March. This is good news for the continent which saw a boom in investment last year. Africa VC funding reached an all-time high in 2021 at over $4 billion, more than what startups in the continent raised in the two previous years combined. But still – deals such as $100 million-plus rounds were relatively
Research conducted by My Code, a digital media company for multicultural groups, has found that some Black, Hispanic, and Asian-American Pacific Islander audiences feel excluded from the smart-home tech market. The study, which surveyed 1,295 people in the US last November, suggested this might be because advertisers aren’t prioritizing marketing to these audiences. The study also noted a difference in interest between multicultural homeowners and renters. Based on the survey, 63% of Black and 66% of Latinx renters would purchase smart-home techs such as smart locks, smart-home light switches and smart speakers.
Humble Games and the Black Game Developer Fund have announced eight new developers and projects that will receive funding from the initiative. Each development team will receive a portion of the nearly $1 million funds. “The Black Game Developer Fund is all about identifying talented game makers with a passion for their craft and a vision for compelling game concepts, and providing resources and support to help them take the next step on their journey—whether that’s formulating a pitch, fleshing out a prototype, or creating advanced builds,” the BGDF wrote
The initiative, launched by Meta five years ago to drive connectivity in underserved regions, will reportedly be discontinued. Meta, formerly Facebook, quietly issued this notice on its website stating its plans to wind down the program later this year. The program was envisioned to bridge the internet gap across emerging markets like Africa, where connectivity is lowest across the globe. According to the 2021 GSMA mobile economy report, about 28% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa is connected to the mobile internet. This is in comparison to the connectivity in other regions
There are many ways to celebrate Black History Month, and while it’s important to look back at our history from Martin Luther King to those that paved the way in regards to racial justice – it’s equally important to celebrate Black joy and Black excellence in other areas too. One area where the community is really making moves in tech. It’s no secret that diversity is a challenge in the tech world, with the industry lagging behind the rest of the economy on almost every diversity metric, but it’s important
Former Tesla factory worker Kaylen Barker filed a lawsuit against the company on Tuesday alleging that she suffered racist abuse and a physical assault from a coworker. In the lawsuit seen by Business Insider – she reportedly says that Tesla failed to address the abuse and retaliated against her after she reported it. “I was violated physically, mentally, and emotionally because I am an African American lesbian,” Barker said in a statement provided to Insider via her attorney. The suit against Tesla and staffing company Staffmark alleges that in September
Bryan Young, CEO, and co-founder of Home Lending Pal, an AI-powered software platform, has a mission to use his technology to increase Black and Brown homeownership beyond the rates of the record in the early 2000s when the rate was 46.4%. At the moment Black homeownership is 43 percent. Ogechi Igbokwe, founder of OneSavvyDollar, told The Grio she is also “worried about the lack of ownership rate” in the Black community. She thinks an additional contributing factor to homeownership reluctance is the prioritization of buying stocks rather than investing in actual
Major tech companies such as Apple, Alphabet, and Microsoft are among the West Coast names that have opened offices in Atlanta, hoping to capitalize on the technology talent in the city, especially Black talent, according to a report by TheGrio. Over the past five years, Atlanta has seen 15% growth in tech jobs, comparable with other notable tech cities — 16% for the San Francisco Bay Area and 10% for Austin, Texas, this is based on data collated by the CBRE. There are also a wide range of tech incubators,
For years, venture capitalists have faced mounting pressure to diversify their portfolio companies and investment teams with people of color and women. Finally, it seems that the communities efforts and campaigning are finally bearing fruit. Although there is still a very long way to go – we can’t deny that we have come far. We’d like to highlight the leaders and initiatives driving more Black representation in Venture Capital. BLCK VC’s Black Venture Institute It provides access, insight, and community for Black operators looking to become angel and venture investors. In addition, their Breaking
