Popular social media platform, Pinterest, has settled a shareholder lawsuit that alleged that top executives enabled a culture of discrimination. The move, which took place on Wednesday, was followed by a commitment by the firm to pay up $50 million to a series of reforms to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion across the company and its product. But financial details of the settlement between Pinterest, which was founded in 2008, and the shareholder, the Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island, have not been shared publicly. In a statement to NBC
It was announced back in August that gBeta Medtech was on a mission to find Black founders for its end-of-year accelerator, and well – they found them and they’re pretty incredible. Five healthcare startups were chosen from more than 85 applicants for the 2021 Cohort, the first gBETA Medtech program specifically for Black founders. Each startup is receiving $34,000 in funding and “intensive, individualized coaching and access to gener8tor’s national network of mentors, customers, corporate partners, and investors.” Here’s a list of the startups chosen: bTECH’s Launched by Wendy Slone, bTECH’s
The Framework has raised $2 million in a seed round to create an “on-demand business school” aimed at startups. The edtech platform says it already has more than 2,500 people on its waitlist ahead of its launch next year. The firm’s idea is that members learn directly from tech operators from companies including Slack, ASOS, Flo Health, and Netflix via 15-minute “Frameworks” and live office hours sessions. Members can also make 1:1 connections with each other. This is sometimes called “snackable” content. LearnStart, the seed fund of Learn Capital, Evio
When creating a startup, you go through a few hurdles along the way – from financial challenges to picking the right co-founder that will help spearhead the company with you. It’s never an easy journey, and you should never believe anyone that tells you otherwise, so it’s always essential to have a mentor or an advisor who can share their mistakes and lessons – so you don’t make the same errors. Unfortunately, not everyone has the privilege of landing a mentor or sponsor that will give you the time of
The Kenyan startup has secured $2 million in pre-seed funding and is headed for its next phase of growth, which will involve extending loans to traders offering more relief to those that are often left out and regarded as high risk by the traditional banking sector. Fredrik Jung Abbou; a two-time unicorn founder and Norrsken Impact Accelerator were among the investors that funded the firm while the debt round had the participation of French Public Investment Bank (Bpifrance) and GreenTec Capital Partners. The funds include $1 million equity and $1
Tiktok has teamed up with MACRO again for a first-of-its-kind grant designed specifically with Black creatives in mind. As an extension of the TikTok for Black Creatives creator incubator program, the social media giant is providing creators and artists with career-building resources that will help them thrive on TikTok and in real life. “Our aim is to ensure Black creatives and artists have the resources they need to reach new heights in their careers and spearhead innovation in their respective industries,” said Kudzi Chikumbu, Director of Creator Community at TikTok, in an official statement.
Memphis-born Abiodun Johnson, along with co-founders Boris Moyston and Evan Leaphart created the first “Unicorn Ambition Conference” for Black Men Talk Tech in 2019, and since then, they’ve gone from strength to strength awarding over $80,000 in funding to Black tech founders, BMTT is a collective and concert series that supports emerging and elite Black tech entrepreneurs. Unicorn Ambition Conference is a national tech conference providing exposure and resources to Black tech founders who are building innovative companies and focused on massive growth or becoming the next “unicorn.” What is BMTT all
As part of our weekly interviews, POCIT has had the pleasure of interviewing founders who’ve raised millions in capital, social media influencers using their platforms to educate young people looking to get into the tech sector. Now on this series, we’ve sat down with the founder and president of BWISE, a STEM organization already driving robust change for mid to senior-level Black women in tech, engineering, and science.
The recent events where Davido asked his loyal fans, friends, and colleagues for money – raising a whopping 200M Naira, which will be distributed to organizations helping vulnerable Nigerians, has shown the power of technology and how it can be used for good. On November 17 – the musician took to Instagram and Twitter and asked fans and friends who believe “I’ve given you a hit song” to send money to a bank account he detailed under his name. He asked them to send one million nairas each, and they
The popular app, known for its collaborations with the VERZUZ brand, has launched a funding program that will provide Black creators $2,000 in cash and $2,000 in company equity per month on the app. The contracts with the creators begin on January 1, and participants are required to sign a one-year contract with the app to qualify for the payments. The program is called the Triller Assembly for Black Creators. It aims to empower Black creators and talent to deepen the pipeline of Black-owned content across entertainment, lifestyle, fashion, and sports. “Triller and
