Every.io has announced it’s coming out of stealth alongside $9.5 million in seed funding. Every is the first all-in-one finance and HR suite that combines Banking, Cards, Bill Payments, Corporate Treasury, Bookkeeping, Tax, HR, Payroll, and Benefits in one platform. It was founded by Rajeev Behera, who previously raised $100 million in his last venture, Reflektive. The inspiration came from Behara’s experience as the founding CEO at Reflektive. “When I started my last company, I made a lot of costly errors setting up my back office. Founders just want to
Kenyan Startup Secures $4M To Bridge Africa’s Environmental Data Gap Through AI And Satellite Tech
Kenya-based climate-tech startup Amini has raised $4 million in a seed funding round led by Salesforce Ventures and the Female Founders Fund. Solving Africa’s Environmental Data Gap Amini focuses on solving Africa’s environmental data gap through AI and satellite technology. Founded by Kate Kallot, Amini has developed a holistic solution. It utilizes AI and space technologies at scale to drive systemic change and promote economic inclusivity for farmers and supply chain resilience across Africa. By fixing Africa’s data gap, they want to make it a more prosperous, equitable, and safe
Every year, Forbes releases their long-awaited list of young innovators shaping today’s world. This year marks Forbes 30 Under 30’s 13th annual list of entrepreneurs. The list featured a handful of Black people innovating in tech, from tackling toxic language online to working on the first crewed space mission to Mars. So, let’s meet some of them. Tony Morino, Co-Founder of Wiseday Morino co-founded Wiseday in 2021 to help Canadian homeowners get the best and cheapest mortgage rates. Morina co-founded the company with his friends and long-time acquaintances in 2021
Pika, the company redesigning the entire video-making and editing experience with AI, is making its public debut. The launch comes alongside the announcement of its $35 million Series A round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. “Our vision for Pika is to enable everyone to be the director of their own stories and to bring out the creator in each of us,” stated the company in a blog post. “Today, we reached a milestone that brings us closer to our vision.” An Idea-to-video platform Founded by Demi Guo, CEO, and Chenlin Meng,
Blockchain research and development lab Polytope Labs aims to transform Africans from consumers to creators in the blockchain space. Founded by Nigerian engineers Seun Lanlege and David Salami, Polytope Labs’ first product is Hyperbridge, a cross-chain protocol designed to facilitate secure communication between blockchains. Africa’s Crypto Adoption and Consumption African countries have some of the highest rates of grassroots crypto adoption among everyday people. However, the continent has mostly been a consumer rather than a builder of blockchain technology. Lanlege drew on his experience of helping to build the Ethereum and Polkadot networks to establish Polytope Labs with David
Banks are now considering using AI for their annual review processes, according to Workday Inc., which may cause issues for Black and minority workers. Workday Inc. has rolled out new products that rely on AI to write job descriptions or aid managers in writing up annual reviews of workers’ performance. Co-Chief Executive Officer of Workday Carl Eschenbach told Bloomberg that banks have expressed interest in those products. Less Time And More Productivity It’s all part of their efforts to streamline operations and cut costs, he said, announcing the offering will
YouTube has introduced an AI experiment exploring how technology can create deeper connections between artists, creators, and fans, including John Legend, T-Pain, and Papoose. The rise of AI-generated music has sparked excitement and concern within the music industry, from calls for legal action to taking advantage of opportunities to revolutionize music creation. The Dream Track The Dream Track experiment will feature YouTube Shorts and is powered by Google DeepMind’s most advanced music generation model, Lyria. Nine artists, John Legend, Papoose, T-Pain, Alec Benjamin, Charlie Puth, Charli XCX, Demi Lovato, Sia,
Leap Financial, a financial services tech company focused on Hispanic and Latin Americans, has launched Lola AI. The new AI assistant coaches recently arrived immigrants to the US, helping them fully integrate. Leap Financial The 2022 Census estimated more than 46 million immigrants live in the US, comprising about 13.9% of the population. Almost 80% of America’s unicorn companies have an immigrant founder or an immigrant in a crucial leadership role, such as CEO. Leap Financial is a team of engineers, designers, and software developers who create and launch innovative
Tech Spark AI has raised $1.4 million to create a new generative AI platform, Spark Plug, which aims to create a more inclusive, personalized educational experience for students. The pre-seed funding round was led by TD Bank, with participation from Salesforce, Canada’s government, and NBA Canada. An educational ChatGPT alternative Tamar Huggins and her 13-year-old daughter Talia Grant founded the AI company eight years ago to improve the education experience of Black and brown students across North America. Tech Spark is Canada’s first tech and design school committed to empowering
Apple has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve allegations of illegal discrimination in its hiring and recruitment processes. The Department of Justice (DOJ) accused Apple of violating anti-discrimination laws, specifically related to its permanent labor certification program (PERM), which enables companies to hire foreign workers permanently in the US. The allegations The DOJ investigation found that Apple favored current employees holding temporary visas who sought permanent positions, creating barriers for other applicants. “Apple did not advertise positions Apple sought to fill through the PERM program on its external job
