The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, has just announced plans to invest $10 million in venture capital funds that reiterate the company’s stance on diversity, technology, and entrepreneurship.
Although there aren’t many, Black-owned banks have gone from strength to strength and have enabled the community to accumulate savings, learn finance skills, start their businesses, and more. Some might question why these banks are necessary, and the truth is, in some parts of the world, financial exclusion has put Black people at a severe disadvantage. And if you take a closer inspection at America’s staggering wealth gap where the median wealth for a Black family is just a tenth of a White household’s – it becomes more apparent why minority-owned banks
Pamela Lujan From Latinas In Tech Believes It Takes A ‘Village’ To Make A Difference In The Industry
Board Member at ‘Latinas in Tech’ Pamela Lujan, who also works at firm Oportun, is helping pave the way for those in the community that wants to get into the tech scene. In her interview with the organization, where she also works as a secretary, the recent ‘Top 40 under 40’ honoree said it “takes a village” to make a difference in the industry and elevate the community. Currently, Black and Latino people are being “left out” of the tech industry, and big firms like Google still have a lot
Yellow Card, an African Bitcoin exchange that recently announced a $15 million Series A funding, is one of the continent’s leading trailblazers in cryptocurrency. Its most recent round was led by Valar Ventures, Third Prime, and Castle Island Ventures. Square, Coinbase Ventures, and Blockchain.com Ventures. Now Yellow Card plans to use its funding to grow its team, launch new products, and expand to more African countries across the continent. According to Forbes, the announcement makes it the most considerable funding by a B2C crypto exchange in Africa. The firm was first launched in 2018 in Nigeria
Startup Showdown is a unique opportunity for early-stage startups to present to well-known investors and innovators in the tech ecosystem as they look to take their company to the next level. All finalists will get the chance to pitch to VC investors but only one startup founder will walk away with $120,000 to expand their business. Hosted monthly by Panoramic Ventures, there are six open application periods and 12 events each year. September’s ‘showdown’ will be hosted live in Miami on Thursday and broadcast globally as a fully hybrid event. “Startup
Mikayla Harris, a senior from Morgan State University, a school that breeds excellence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, was awarded $15,000 from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation for 2021. Harris is Morgan State University’s second consecutive scholar to win the highly competitive Astronaut Scholarship. In a nationwide selection, 60 top junior and senior STEM students across 44 universities were awarded the scholarship, which aids students with mentors, professional and personal development, and networking with astronauts, C-suite level executives, and industry leaders to help advance their careers. Harris said she applied to represent
Exclusive NFTs Of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal ‘Before They Were Pros’ Set To Go Live
NBA fans will soon have the opportunity to gain exclusive content on athletes Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Shaquille O’Neal before they became household names. Binance NFT Marketplace is set to launch the “Before They Were Pros” NFT series, which will feature “a unique time capsule video and represent a flashback of these fantastic athletes during their high school days,” according to a press release. The launch is a part of a distinguished collection produced by Total Digital Group with licensing from MediaMineLLC set to debut on Sept. 28, 2021. It
Rheaply, a startup that specializes in recycling and sourcing unused items, has just announced that it received an undisclosed amount of funding from the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance Game Changer Fund. The firm also combines a resource-sharing network with a user-friendly resource management platform. The investment is meant to help the Black-owned venture build an online exchange for building products and other resources. The exchange, which is set to launch in late 2022, will enable businesses in the greater Bay Area to access surplus and salvaged resources at cost-effective rates.
Black-Owned Start-Ups Awarded $1.2M In Financial Support Thanks To The Meda Million Dollar Challenge
Three Black founders have walked away with enough money to make their businesses flourish after the largest Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) entrepreneurial competition in the nation picked them as winners. This is the fourth annual competition where five companies received $1.2 million in financial support. Metropolitan Economic Development Association – also known as Meda – was founded by a group of Minnesota business leaders looking to attack inequity within minority communities in the state. “Meda operates a growing Community Development Fund Institution (CDFI) that provides needed capital for BIPOC businesses
Polaris, founded by journalist Rahman J. Dukes, is on its way to becoming the first Black-owned free ad-supported streaming channel to land on VIZIO SmartCast. Duke’s platform is focused on becoming a channel that celebrates Black culture and delivers unique entertainment experiences to SmartCast users. With guidance from the Polaris board, media personality Sway Calloway – from MTV – and music historian Shaheem Reid, Polaris hopes to deliver a “superior viewing experience through authentic, meaningful content that channels the spirit of African culture and music.” It was specifically designed to uncover
