Diversity Lab, a legal industry consulting firm that promotes diversity practices in law firms and corporate legal departments, is closing its doors due to “meritless attacks by government agencies,” according to its founder. The US Federal Trade Commission attempted to enforce a settlement that would ban the firm from collecting or sharing law-firm-specific data and shut down its diversity certification program, as per Reuters. Diversity Lab, founded in 2013, furloughed its 17 employees and paused operations as it sought to resist the FTC’s investigation, which brought the firm to the
CreditChek, a Nigerian credit data company, has raised $600,000 to enter the East African market. Janngo Capital led the round, with participation from previous investor Assembly Investors and new investors Vastly Valuable Ventures and Unipeg Capital. The Nigerian company plans to expand in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. “We’re building the data infrastructure that allows lenders to access richer, more reliable insights,” Kingsley Ibe, co-founder and chief executive of CreditChek, told TechCabal. ‘This funding allows us to scale our infrastructure and partnerships in East Africa, bringing us closer to a future
On Thursday, 4 June, residents in East London protested against a planned data center in Brick Lane. The protest took place outside the SXSW Festival, a week-long event focused on technology, music, and culture. The planned data center and office development is part of a 500 million redevelopment scheme replacing the Truman Brewery, according to Socialist Worker. Plans for the data center The brewery currently consists of pop-up shops, restaurants, and bars. Truman Estates owner Zeloof LLC plans to demolish several buildings around Brick Lane to make way for the
Slutty Vegan is expanding its doors by opening restaurants in Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, the city where the brand first opened. Slutty Vegan is expanding Khadejah Davis and Jamel Douglas, owners of Juici Patties, will be the first Slutty Vegan franchise owners to open and operate a location in Atlanta. The D.C branch will be run by franchise veteran Brandi Forte, who will lead development, bringing his years of franchising knowledge to the brand. “Atlanta is where Slutty Vegan was born, and we’re planting deeper roots here while establishing our
A new book that highlights how Black mid-career technology professionals are being pushed out of the job market has recently been published. The author, veteran career strategist and corporate executive Byron K. Veasey, argues that Black professionals are navigating a hiring market with several structural barriers. The Triple Barrier Locked Out: Proven Strategies to Navigate ATS Filters, Overcome Workplace Bias, and Win Senior-Level Roles in a Shifting Job Market for Black Professionals highlights what Veasay calls the Triple Barrier: a combination of algorithmic filtering, human bias, and the systematic dismantling
Elation Health has announced the acquisition of Aster, a Black-founded EHR focused on women’s health. This acquisition will allow Aster to learn from Elation Health’s expertise in AI agents and expand Elation Health’s development of the first agentic operating system for primary care. “The Aster team impressed us with their vision and creative inventions to support independent practices,” said Kyna Fong, co-founder and CEO of Elation Health, in a press release. Fong shares that, like Aster, Elation was created by siblings who hoped to change the healthcare system. “That shared
Black-owned whiskey brand Uncle Nearest’s receivership is expanding to include the company that concealed a $20 million loan from media mogul Jay-Z, according to the Lexington Herald Leader. Judge Charles E. Atchley Jr. said that the receivership for the brand should remain and be extended to include Grant Sidney Inc., the holding company that founder Fawn Weaver used to hide a $20 million loan made last year by Jay-Z’s investment company, MarcyPen. Jay-Z loan to Uncle Nearest Filings state that Fawn Weaver told ARM Credit the $20 million was a
Byron Allen has become the majority owner of Buzzfeed after finally closing the acquisition of the digital media brand. Allen will take over as CEO of the company, with former CEO Jonah Peretti serving as “president of BuzzFeed AI.” In this role peretti “will bring his strategic focus to applied AI research, product innovation and the development of new technology-driven media formats,” according to Variety. BuzzFeed’s transaction with Allen Family Digital was closed on Wednesday, 27 May, with Allen Family Digital acquiring 40 million shares of BuzzFeed common stock. Buzzfeed
$942 million — or just 0.32% of total US venture funding went to companies with a Black founder or co-founder in 2025, according to Crunchbase data. The tide has turned slightly in 2025, with US-based startups founded or co-founded by a Black founder raising $643 million. Most of this funding was raised in the first quarter of the year, marking it the most raised in a single quarter since Q2 2022, when $653 million was raised by a Black founder or co-founder. However, Crunchbase highlights that this is still a
Black Women’s unemployment rate has reached 7.3% in 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Last year, Black women’s unemployment rate increased from 5.1% in March to 6.1% in April, reached an all-time high of 6.2% in May, then dropped to 5.8% in June, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data reported by The 19th. DEI and AI affecting Black women’s employability Black women are more likely to be in departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development, which have been targeted for cuts by DOGE.
