Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisition Inc, known as MEOA for short, is now the first Black-led special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The news on the milestone move comes after MEOA, which will continue to focus on historically undercapitalized minority-owned or controlled businesses, closed a $126.5 million upsized IPO of units on August 30. Its founders – chairman Shawn Rochester and CEO Robin Watkins – believe “the mission and purpose of MEOA will help catapult minority enterprise in this country.” Mr. Rochester told the Seattle Times that as a
London-based digital-first car insurance provider Marshmallow has just become the UK’s second Black-founded unicorn after raising an $83million Series B – valuing it at $1.25 billion. The start-up’s founders Oliver and Alexander Kent-Braham, who are twins, first launched the platform in 2017 – initially set out to serve ex-pats who struggled to find affordable insurance. But since its boom and rapid scale in business – the firm now describes itself as a “mass market.” According to Sifted, it is one of only two UK insurance start-ups to be granted a license
Nigeria’s Prospa has just closed a $3.8 million pre-seed round that will allow the fintech startup to offer small businesses banking and software services. The West-African-based firm caters to freelancers and entrepreneurs acting as the “operating system” for their businesses by providing bank accounts, tax support, advice on creating a unique name, and more. The start-up, launched by trio Frederik Obasi, Chioma Ugo, and Rodney Jackson-Cole, has already had some success over the last few months – in March, it was one of the 10 African startups participating in Y Combinator’s (YC)
Howard University has been targeted by cybercriminals in a ransomware attack which has forced the school to cancel Tuesday’s lessons and ban the use of both of its dining halls. In a statement found on the university’s website, it revealed that on September 3 its information technology team had detected “unusual” activity on the school’s network. As per protocol and to avoid potential criminal activity – the network was immediately shut down in order for the issue to be investigated further. But its teams have come to the conclusion –
It’s not easy being a Black founder – there are many hurdles you have to climb before getting to the top, and one example includes the funding and investment process. Just 1% of Venture Capital (VC) firms financially back founders from the Black community in the US – while in the UK, that number sits at a ridiculously low 0.24%. According to BLCK VC, a nonprofit organization that equips Black investors to accelerate their careers in VC, more than 80 percent of venture firms in America don’t even have a single Black
El Salvador has become the first country to accept Bitcoin as a legal currency in a move that has got the world debating whether cryptocurrency should be used in this way. The country has reportedly already bought its first 400 bitcoins, worth an estimated $21 million based on bitcoin’s value at the time of the announcement, according to a series of tweets by the country’s President – Nayib Bukele. Millions of people are now expected to download the government’s new digital wallet app which gives away $30 in Bitcoin to every
A group of tech and diversity pioneers is calling for robust action to be taken as Facebook’s facial recognition software mistakenly labeled a video featuring Black men as “about primates.” Marcel Hedman, the founder of A. I group Nural Research, a company that explores how artificial intelligence is tackling global challenges, described the long-standing issue as a “multi-layered” problem that can “definitely be solved.” Mr. Hedman, 22, based in London, said: “There was definitely no shock when I heard about the Facebook incident, and I think the reason why is
Nigerian automotive tech company Autochek has announced the acquisition of Cheki Uganda and Kenya from Ringier One Africa Media in what has been described as a “milestone” move. Cheki, which first launched a decade ago in Kenya, has grown into a well-known car dealer site – spearheading the industry with 700,000 users and over 12,000 vehicle lists monthly. The start-up eventually expanded its operations to Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania before ROAM was acquired in 2017. But now, according to a statement on ROAM’s website, the business where people can
Hubspot is hiring When Mohamed Gueye was six years old, growing up in Senegal, his interest in tech began when he saw a computer for the first time. His dad bought it, and he was fascinated by the images that were shown on its screen. Today, Mohamed works at HubSpot in Massachusetts as a technical lead. In this interview, he shares his path working his way up from a supermarket into tech, his experience at HubSpot, and the importance of not getting stuck into one way of thinking. Hi Mohamed,
Startup investing in Africa has come a long way, partly due to the work that angel investors do in helping startups take off. Angel investors are the individuals who provide early-stage financing for startups, helping them get off the ground, and hopefully attract bigger investments. Because they invest at the very early stages of a startup’s life, the chances of failure are really high, yet many startups may never get started without the money they invest. We spoke to Biola Alabi, an angel investor and the founder of Biola Alabi Media,
