London-based fintech startup Jenesys AI has secured $1.1 million in a pre-seed funding round. Founded in late 2022 by Nicolai Thomson and Dr Tosin Dairo, Jenesys elevates the role of bookkeepers and accountants with a conversational AI named “Jack”. The investment round was led by Twin Path Ventures, with contributions from Fuel Ventures, Antler, Hatcher+ in Singapore, and seasoned angel investors from the US and UK. Meet Jack: The conversational AI Jenesys AI’s flagship product is “Jack,” a conversational AI designed to support finance teams. Integrated with platforms like Slack
In a startling revelation, Barbara Furlow-Smiles, previously renowned for her role as a global diversity strategist at Facebook, has pled guilty to wire fraud charges. Her conviction comes after siphoning over $4 million from the tech giant, purportedly to support an extravagant lifestyle across California and Georgia. Furlow-Smiles, who significantly contributed to Facebook’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives between 2017 and mid-2021, orchestrated a complex fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta detailed how she exploited her position to funnel funds through fictitious vendors and bogus charges, culminating in
Twin Health has secured $50 million in funding for its AI-driven personalized healthcare tech that aims to prevent and reverse chronic health diseases like diabetes. Temasek led the Series D funding round with the participation of existing investors ICONIQ Growth, Sofina, Peak XV, and Helena. Twin Health was co-founded in 2018 by Jahangir Mohammed (CEO), also the founder of Jasper and Kineto Wireless, and Terry Poon (CTO). A whole-body digital twin Central to Twin Health’s mission is the Whole Body Digital Twin™ – an innovative, AI-driven healthcare platform that composes
New York-based fintech startup Comun is redefining the bank experience for Latine immigrant communities in the US and reimaging local banking for the digital world. Founded in 2021 by Andres Santos, CEO, and Abiel Gutierrez, CTO, both of whom experienced financial exclusion upon migrating to the US, Comun has secured $9 million in funding to date. Banking Disparities in the Latine Community The Latine population contributes a staggering $3.2 trillion to the US GDP. This makes it the world’s fifth-largest economy, more than the GDPs of India, the UK, and
Ghana’s telco regulator has issued a warning against the sale and operation of Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite internet service. Starlink has yet to obtain a license or type approval in the West African country, but citizens appear to be purchasing kits through intermediaries. Starlink in Ghana Starlink is an internet satellite constellation operated by American aerospace company SpaceX, providing coverage to over 60 countries. Spearheaded by Elon Musk, Starlink is a network of satellites that promises to provide high-speed, low-cost internet access to remote and underserved areas. Although SpaceX only
Black-owned fintech startup Conduiit has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to save entertainment companies time and money by centralizing their production finance operations. Disrupting the production finance space Conduiit is the brainchild of former Amazon and Netflix employees Shawn Hamilton, CEO, and Jason Thurman. The New York and New Jersey-based tech company provides users with digital workflows, SaaS, and DaaS solutions. It also offers budgeting, scheduling, cost tracking, and cash flow management guidance at project and corporate levels. Hamilton worked as a production accountant at Amazon from 2015 to 2017 when
Women with dark skin tones are getting more screen time and speaking time in US scripted television, a new study using advanced AI models has revealed. Despite improvements over the past 12 years, the study found that men with light skin tones still get the most screen and speaking time. See It, Be It See It, Be It: What Families Are Seeing on TV is a new study that analyzes trends in the screen and speaking time of the visually presenting attributes of characters. This includes gender, skin tone, and
CB Insights released its latest list of the world’s most promising startups, including a number of companies founded by people of color. CB Insights collected the company’s investors, headcount growth, and commercial relationships to identify 345 of the most promising private startups from their database of 1 million companies. The industries include fintech, AI, insurtech, generative AI, and retail tech. We have compiled a list of some people of color-owned startups featured. Airbase – Thejo Kote Thejo Kote founded Airbase in 2017 and has been its CEO since then. Airbase develops a modern
Vennard Wright is reinvesting profits into PerVista, an AI-powered gun detection technology to reduce gun violence. Wright founded Wave Welcome – an IT management company – in 2020 to deliver technology and cybersecurity services that empower dynamic organizations. It makes money from managing internal IT systems of businesses, universities, and government organizations, then invests profits into its own side projects. Wave Welcome is now working on a gun detection tech project, PerVista. Gun Detection Tech PerVista recognizes the increasing importance of digital security and built a solution to consolidate essential
Nicki Minaj fans, Barbz, have created an AI kingdom, Gag City, ahead of the release of the artist’s Pink Friday 2 album. The impressive pink creations have been trending across social media. Barbz turn to AI Gag City is an AI-generated kingdom created by Barbz. The pink alternative universe’s name is a wordplay for “gagged,” a slang to describe something amazing or stunning. After Nicki shared the cover art on her album – with her standing on a pink subway in a pink-tinted city – fans came up with the
