Speaking during his keynote speech at the Urban League of Hampton Roads’annual Martin Luther King, Jr. awards program on Monday singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams issued a call-to-action for businesses to pledge a more firm commitment to Black entrepreneurs. Although Williams applauded the “smart” companies that have already taken a stand and implanted different ways they can help founders of color, he didn’t hesitate to explain what more needs to be done. He said: “There’s much more work to be done to achieve anything that resembles equality, business — thank God businesses
Black Girls Breathing and BlackFem are among the dozens of Black-led startups receiving a new set of philanthropic grants from Goldman Sachs’ ‘One Million Black Women Initiative. Black Girls Breathing is focused on addressing systemic issues impacting Black women and girls’ access to health care by providing free and accessible mental health care resources. While BlackFem is set on transforming school-based learning so that girls of color have the skills, habits, and resources to build and sustain personal wealth. The news was revealed via a press release where Goldman Sachs’ ‘One Million
Black professionals in North America are set to get new opportunities to network and level up their careers this year after Black professionals in Tech Network (BPTN), the largest Black community of tech and business professionals, announced its new partnership with Ten Thousand Coffees. The collaboration is focused on enhancing mentoring, and executive networking opportunities for Black professionals to develop their careers. Each year, BPTN hosts the CULTIVATE Mentoring Program, which pairs 350 Black professionals, under 29 years old, with executives in the tech and business industries. This Program also allows for more
According to data from Crunchbase, just under 3% of venture capital funding in 2020 went to Black and Latino tech start-ups. That unequal playing field led to the creation of TechRise, a Chicago initiative to support and fund Black and Latino-owned tech companies. It was started by P33, a Chicago nonprofit supporting its city’s tech community. Through weekly pitch competitions, TechRise has awarded more than $900,000 to more than 40 Black and Latino-founded startups since launching in April 2021. In December, the organization held a finale event where some of the best of Chicago’s
Cynthia is an innovative scientist, an advocate for Black girls and women. Through her organization, Black Girls Do STEM, she has been able to help dozens of middle and high school students by exposing them to career pathways and empowering them to become STEM professionals. Black Girls Do STEM has impacted over 60 girls locally and worked across seven school districts, 13 community partners and secured three grant funders in two years. Unfortunately, being a Black woman in a majority white male industry comes with challenges. Speaking to Megha Mohan
Ghanaian startup Float has picked up a significant round of funding with $17M already in the bag in the first few weeks of the year. The fintech which provides credit lines for businesses says the funding will be used to bolster its offerings and expand around the globe. The seed round was a mix of $7 million equity and $10 million debt. While Cauris provided debt financing, Tiger Global and JAM Fund, the investment firm of Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen co-led the equity bit. Other VC firms involved in the equity round include Kinfolk,
Rebundle, a hair-focused startup based in St. Louis creating and selling hair extensions made from plant-based materials, has announced that it has raised $1.4 million in a pre-seed round. The idea came from Ciara Imani May’s passion for living more sustainably, which she had been trying to do even before she launched the startup with co-founder Danielle Washington. Speaking to media, she explained that in 2019 she wanted to look for a solution to the itchiness on her scalp as well as the waste associated with hair extensions. Rebundle launched
With over 93,000 members, the Black Fathers group has grown into one of the largest groups of dads on Facebook. It was launched by Matt Prestbury in 2008 after he grew increasingly frustrated with the notion that ‘Black fathers weren’t around.’ He knew there were involved Black fathers across the US and the globe – so he set up a group so they could all connect with one another using Facebook. “When I got on Facebook, I figured that was the best opportunity for us to present positive images of black
We’ve started a new weekly series looking at founders from different communities absolutely killing it in the tech space. Following on from our ‘Meet 3 Standout Latinx Founders Using Data And AR To Do Some Pretty Cool Things‘ feature piece – we’re now taking a deep dive into Black founders in fintech and blockchain that you should look out for this year. These financial technologies (fintech) companies use the internet, blockchain, and software technologies, as well as algorithms, to offer or facilitate financial services traditionally offered by banks. David Potter
Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson is a phenomenal woman with an amazing track record. She graduated with excellent grades in high school, then entered the popular Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as one of 20 African-American students there. Jackson arrived at MIT in the fall of 1964 as one of just a handful of Black students. Later – in 1976, Dr. Jackson joined the Theoretical Physics Research Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories. At Bell, Dr. Jackson conducted a number of successful theoretical physics experiments and made breakthrough scientific research that enabled others to
