A Black fintech home-improvement financing platform has announced a new $150 million home-improvement loan portfolio. TGUC Financial, Inc. aims to fix the broken home improvement market by providing loans to homeowners, contractors, and lenders. The platform uses AI on both the business and customer service sides, with human agents. It also matches homeowners with vetted contractors through SmartMatch. The $150 million home-improvement loan portfolio The new initiative will help underprivileged communities upgrade their homes. The capital base of a credit union and a Community Development Financial Institution collaboration seeks to provide capital
Full Swing, a sports tech platform backed by Tiger Woods, has been acquired by Versant Media Group, Inc. Under the acquisition, Versant will take full ownership of Bruin Capital and a group of minority investors for around $530 million in cash. The sports technology company, with patented hardware and an integration platform, is used by competitive athletes, coaches, and commercial venues. “Full Swing is exactly the kind of strategic platform that reflects how we are building Versant: investing in our core markets, extending the reach of our iconic brands and
BRDRS, a fintech app designed for African and Caribbean diasporal travelers, has raised $1.3M in a Pre-Seed funding round. The app, which is the first of its kind, offers several features, including cross-border connectivity, a multi-currency digital wallet, and BRDRS Connect, which lets you buy and activate a local eSIM. POCIT sat down with CEO and co-founder Joy Martins to discuss how the app will serve the Black diaspora, the importance of a travel app for Black travelers, and how it aims to challenge misconceptions about Africa and the Caribbean.
Communications Minister Solly Malatsi is denying any claims that Elon Musk’s company influenced the planned changes to South Africa’s telecommunications licensing framework. Solly Malatsi denyling claims The claims come after policy changes to allow Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes (EEIPs) as an alternative to existing ownership requirements. But Malatsi claims that these changes were already included in the Democratic Alliance’s 2024 election manifesto and the Government of National Unity’s Medium Term Development Plan, according to Business Insider Africa. Additionally, Committee chairperson Khusela Sangoni alleges that public affairs firm Resolve Communications arranged
The Democratic Republic of Congo is set to launch its first stock exchange in 2027, which will include the Congolese franc and the US dollar. Finance Minister Doudou Fwamba Likunde Li-Botayi told Bloomberg News that the new exchange will allow the country to benefit from the growing demand for crucial minerals that will fuel the AI revolution. “The reality of our economy is that it is strongly dollarized,” Li-Botayi said in an email response, highlighting that more than 95% of total banking system deposits and over 80% of public securities
Elii Emeghebo, a Nigerian-Australian model, is accusing the brand Peter Jackson of using AI to whitewash one of his images. The model walked past Peter Jackson’s Pitt Street shop in Sydney two years ago and noticed an eerily similar image. He emailed his agent describing the man in the image as his “white twin”. “My nose was reshaped, my skin tone and my eye colour were significantly lightened, and there’s some reshaping around my eyebrows and my eye shape to be more Eurocentric and a lot less black,” he told
Civil rights organisations and nonprofits are supporting a letter signed by members of Congress that calls for transparency about the effects of the Trump administration’s attacks on DEI. In February, members of Congress demanded records highlighting the effects of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) rollbacks, according to a press release. In the letter, lawmakers sought out information about how President Donald Trump’s actions affected the federal workforce. “Your administration has slashed billions of dollars in DEIA-related funding, as well as jeopardised nearly $1 billion in life-saving National Institutes of
Black-owned Redemption Bank is introducing a debit card supporting single mothers living in government-subsidised housing. The Bank King card, which launched on Juneteenth, will donate from every available account to nonprofits that support underprivileged families, according to ABC News. “Bank King Card represents a new regenerative banking model that starts with investing in mothers who are a few hopeful dollars away from breaking out of poverty, and opening up America’s vaults of opportunity that have been closed to too many for too long,” Redemption Holding Co. chair and Chief Executive
Kenya plans to create a marketplace for government datasets for commercial use over the next five years. Citizens’ data could be accessed by businesses, researchers, and NGOs through subscriptions, licensing, and data-as-a-service offerings, according to TechPoint. The plans fall under a draft National Data Governance Policy, which would make Kenya the first African country to coomercialise public-sector data on a large scale. The project is set to cost nearly $3.1 million and could commence as soon as next month, according to Semafor. Kenya creating a marketplace for government data The government
Amira Rasool, founder and CEO of The Folklore, has just launched a new index that highlights the first 200 Black women founders to raise $1 million in venture capital funding. Alongside the index is The First 200 Podcast, featuring interviews with founders about their experiences as entrepreneurs. “As the Founder & Host, I will sit down with founders from the Index to explore what it really takes to raise capital, build venture-backed companies, navigate setbacks, and create lasting impact,” Rasool said in a LinkedIn post. Rasool raised $6.2 Million for her
