Administrators at historically Black colleges are patiently awaiting passage of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, with hopes that the bill’s record funding for HBCUs and their science and tech students on a path to further success. They believe the proposed funding level in the Build Back Better bill would make their school more competitive and improve job prospects for students. The package – if passed – would provide $3 billion for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, programs at minority-serving institutions. It comes at a time where dozens of companies
Raising capital isn’t easy. Having spoken to dozens of founders this year, I’ve realized that fundraising money – whether that’s from investors, friends, family, or the general public – seems to be the biggest hurdle for almost every business owner. The constant headlines of Series A announcements make it seem like there’s no better time for entrepreneurs to raise venture capital, but the statistics for venture capital funding to Black founders are still quite dire. In the UK between 2009 and 2019 just 0.24 percent of venture capital went to a team
Tech executive and entrepreneur John Imah is one of those leading forces in business today. Imah joined Snapchat as the Global Head of Partnerships and Strategy in 2018, and as you can imagine – it’s a pretty busy job. Still, when he’s not at Snap, Imah works as a tech advisor to startups and some of our favorite A-list celebrities. His level of experience is beyond his years – he sold his first tech startup at age 15, and the age of 16, he sold his second company – a gaming firm
Black entrepreneurs know the climb to getting substantial funding from investors can be practically a vertical ascent. Venture-backed founders tend to all look the same with 73 percent of all founding teams composed exclusively of men while 60 percent of founding teams are exclusively White. But here at POCIT news, we believe our community of great founders, engineers, and designers can do it all and our job is to provide you with insight, tips, and timely news. We’ve compiled a list of all the places you can get funding as
Kevin Durant recently launched a $200 million special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), making him the latest celebrity to endorse a blank-check firm. A SPAC is a “blank check” shell corporation designed to take companies public without going through the traditional IPO process. Durant’s SPAC will trade under Ticker symbol “NFNT.U” on the New York Stock Exchange and be co-led by Durant and his longtime manager and business partner, Rich Kleiman. LionTree, an investment and merchant banking firm, has also joined the dynamic duo as a sponsor of the SPAC, according to
At POCIT News, we’re always trying to make life simpler for our community, and that’s why we’ve created a list of Black Programmers and technologists who are inspiring the next generation of innovators. Let’s begin. Sofia Ongele She’s a 20-year-old coder, student, and activist. Back in 2016, she attended Kode with klossy, a summer program and organization dedicated to teaching girls aged 13-18 how to code. In turn, she learned the ins and outs of web development, and learning to code has since opened countless doors for her, taking her to
A few days ago, I got an email regarding a Black-led, Gen Z fintech startup providing income-constrained individuals with investment opportunities. The release said the company, run by a 22-year-old and 25-year-old duo, had just announced their Series A investment round. This – of course – immediately caught my attention because I’m eager to highlight the achievements of young people in tech, but I was even more ecstatic when I saw the figure – Sheridan Clayborne and Mitchell Jones had managed to raise a whopping $18million in their fundraising round.
A Black-led, Gen Z fintech startup providing income-constrained individuals investment opportunities has announced an $18M Series A investment round. The group of diverse investors rallying up to fund Lendtable’s future included SoftBank’s SB Opportunity Fund, Valor Equity Partners, and CEOs of Complex Networks and Social Finance, Inc. The fintech firm, run by founders under 30-years-old, has already disbursed over $2.4 million in match benefits to hundreds of employees in just a year, running the gamut from those employed by small consumer brand companies to Fortune 500 companies like Google, Microsoft,
Kela Ivonye is trying to solve the tech diversity issue through his new organization and micro fund, Protégé. After all, it was the connections he fostered as a founder, coupled with his determination and supportive network that led him to a successful exit from his innovative mailbox company Mailhaven Inc. in 2019. Now he’s using his experience, expertise, and knowledge to help Black entrepreneurs succeed by connecting them with Super founders for mentorship and investment. He co-founded the platform, a nonprofit and micro fund, to cultivate community among black founders in
Of course, the closure announcement was a big shock to everyone since Disha had reportedly bootstrapped to more than 20,000 users and had claimed to have a monthly growth rate of about 100 percent. No one expected this would happen, but as with most startups – resources are a significant problem, and a lack of them can mean great companies fall through the gap. The Nigeria-based platform allows digital creators to curate, sell digital content, create portfolios, and receive payments from their audience globally. This is a $100 billion economy.
