The Kenyan startup has secured $2 million in pre-seed funding and is headed for its next phase of growth, which will involve extending loans to traders offering more relief to those that are often left out and regarded as high risk by the traditional banking sector. Fredrik Jung Abbou; a two-time unicorn founder and Norrsken Impact Accelerator were among the investors that funded the firm while the debt round had the participation of French Public Investment Bank (Bpifrance) and GreenTec Capital Partners. The funds include $1 million equity and $1
A few days ago, I got an email regarding a Black-led, Gen Z fintech startup providing income-constrained individuals with investment opportunities. The release said the company, run by a 22-year-old and 25-year-old duo, had just announced their Series A investment round. This – of course – immediately caught my attention because I’m eager to highlight the achievements of young people in tech, but I was even more ecstatic when I saw the figure – Sheridan Clayborne and Mitchell Jones had managed to raise a whopping $18million in their fundraising round.
A Black-led, Gen Z fintech startup providing income-constrained individuals investment opportunities has announced an $18M Series A investment round. The group of diverse investors rallying up to fund Lendtable’s future included SoftBank’s SB Opportunity Fund, Valor Equity Partners, and CEOs of Complex Networks and Social Finance, Inc. The fintech firm, run by founders under 30-years-old, has already disbursed over $2.4 million in match benefits to hundreds of employees in just a year, running the gamut from those employed by small consumer brand companies to Fortune 500 companies like Google, Microsoft,
Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder Opal Tometi has urged the tech sector to take robust action against perpetuating racism in systems such as facial recognition. “A lot of the algorithms, a lot of the data is racist,” U.S. activist Tometi, who co-founded BLM in 2013, told Reuters on the sidelines of Lisbon’s Web Summit. “We need tech to truly understand every way it (racism) shows up in the technologies they are developing,” she said. Her comments come just a day after Facebook announced it was shutting down its facial recognition
Facebook is planning to shut down its face-recognition system and delete faceprints of more than 1 billion people. At the present moment – more than a third of Facebook’s daily active users have opted to have their faces recognized by the social network’s system. That’s about 640 million people. But according to AP – it recently began scaling back its use of facial recognition after introducing it more than a decade ago. The move comes years after organizations and people of color complained about how problematic AI and facial recognition
Byron Allen, the 1980s comedian-turned-media-mogul, aims to acquire Tegna Inc in an $8 billion deal. The news comes months after it was reported that Allen’s Weather Channel’s business had taken a hit due to the pandemic as the TV advertising dried up, leading to piling debt load. Tegna, formerly owned by Gannett Co Inc, is a chain of 64 TV and radio stations that span 50 markets across the U.S. The deal could significantly boost Allen Media Group, which has amassed 33 local TV network affiliate stations. Allen — who came to
Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. is pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence robots and is reportedly launching touch sensitivity with two new sensors it has created. They include a high-resolution robot fingertip sensor called DIGIT and a thin and replaceable robotic “skin,” known as ReSkin. DIGIT was first released in 2020 as an open-source design; it uses a tiny camera pointed at the pads to produce a detailed image of the touched item. While Reskin can help AI robots to discern information such as an object’s texture, weight, temperature, and state. According
A Black veteran has developed an app, Anjel Tech, that could help track racial incidents and contribute to helping find missing people of color using live stream video and location sharing capabilities. Anjel Tech, founded by James Samuel, Jr, sends information to loved ones in real-time – providing them with the exact location the video was taken from. The app, which claims to share the data “discretely”, has been described as having the potential to decrease the number of dangerous incidents young Black people often face and give their families
Nyla Hayes, the creator of the Long Neckie Collection, a non-fungible token (NFT) collection worth about $3.4 million in digital currency — has just been announced as TimePieces’ first artist in residence. This is a pretty big deal for someone who is just 12 years old. Nyla is breaking down boundaries and leading the way for young Black people in tech. POCIT has simplified what her role actually means and a bit more about the young creator. Who is Nyla? Nyla Hayes is the 12-year-old creator of the Long Neckie Collection, which features diverse
Meta4 Fund Management, a cryptocurrency-focused investment management company, today announced the launch of Meta4 NFT Fund I, LP, an investment vehicle that will buy rare specimens of non-fungible tokens. The Fund’s Managing Partners are Brandon Buchanan and Nabyl Charania. The new private investment fund has secured a lead investment from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) a venture capital firm that backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology. It comes at a time when NFTs have become the most interesting, entertaining, and lucrative subsection of the cryptocurrency asset class. The Fund will invest in digital
