Black-owned real estate tech startup, Rhove, has announced its new partnership with housing changemakers in New Orleans to promote economic inclusion. The partnership, which includes Forward Together New Orleans, The Mayor’s Fund, and The Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance (GNOHA), will provide a grant to fund credit to help 2,000 residents invest in commercial real estate using the Rhove app. Rhove, founded by Calvin Cooper, is a fintech company designed to empower everyone to invest in and own real estate. The company, located in Ohio, is on a mission to
Miami-based cybersecurity startup, Lumu, has closed an $8 million investment round. The funding round led by Panoramic Ventures also included SoftBank Group’s SB Opportunity Fund, KnowBe4 Ventures, Land Bess, a former Zscaler, and Tom Noonan, former CEO at Internet Security Systems. Lumu, founded in 2019 by Ricardo Villadiego, is a cybersecurity company that helps businesses identify and isolate cyber-compromise in real-time. The platform identifies and isolates potential threats, attacks, and adversaries affecting enterprises. As more nation-state criminal groups continue targeting everything from business IP to government secrets, Lumu’s services have proven to
Black Coffee, the famed South African DJ and record producer, whose real name is Nkosinathi Maphumulo, backed Andela, a tech talent incubator and unicorn launched from Lagos in 2015. But he’s not the only musician dipping his toe into the tech scene – African artists worldwide are using personal funds and collectives to invest in startups. Mr. Eazi, real name Oluwatosin Ajibade, made headlines in Africa’s tech circles following his investment in pawaPay, a UK-based and Africa-focused mobile payments company through Zagadat Capital. But unlike Jay-Z and many other African-American musicians now entering
American actress Sonequa Martin-Green has teamed up with snack brand Frito-Lay Variety Packs and STEM Next’s Million Girls Moonshot to provide young girls with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning opportunities. The partnership, which will come under the Back-to-School Blast Off program, aims to encourage the next generation of women to pursue careers in STEM. Through the initiative, families can enjoy STEM activities created by NASA scientists using everyday household items, such as designing a heat shield or building a moon lander. “Representation matters, and sometimes, all it takes to
California-based VC firm, L’Attitude, has launched its new fund to support early-stage Latino founders. The investment firm raised $100 million from big-name investors, including Bank of America, Trujillo Group, Barclays, Cisco, Royal Bank of Canada, and a “strategic anchor investment” from JPMorgan Chase. According to the outlet, Latino business owners have grown 34% over the last decade. Yet, despite this, 72% of Latino entrepreneurs face funding shortfalls, with a large majority relying on personal savings, and only 1.8% are venture-backed. L’Attitude, founded in 2019 by Kennie Blanco and Sol Trujillo,
Working in venture capital after business school, Kelly Ifill has seen how difficult it can be for Black entrepreneurs to raise money through the earliest rounds of fundraising, known as the friends and family round, designed to help fledgling startups get off the ground. As the cozy term suggests, founders are expected to secure investments ranging from $10,000 to $150,000 from trusted, well-heeled contacts to serve as seed money before moving on to more significant investments from angel and institutional investors. But it’s not always easy for some groups to
Investment firm Twenty Five Ventures recently announced the launch of their diversity fund: 25V Diversity Fund. The venture capital firm aims to invest up to $10 million in early-stage real estate, property, and fintech startups led by Black and Latinx entrepreneurs. Twenty-Five Ventures, founded in 2020 by Maximillian Diez, works to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem that allows everyone to access financial and knowledge-based resources where founders and investors can thrive. According to a Crunchbase report, Black and Latinx founders receive less funding than non-minority counters. So, despite recent figures showing
Black-owned fintech startup, Guava, has closed a pre-seed funding round of $2.4 million. The funding round, which Heron Rock led, also included investment firm Ruthless for Good Fund, Precursor Ventures, Backstage Capital, and angel investors Lexi Reese and Ed Zimmerman. Guava, founded in 2021 by Kelly Ifill, helps Black-owned businesses bank and build community. The banking and networking platform works to close the racial wealth gap by aiding small Black companies and creators with the tools needed to scale and grow their businesses. The digital platform, which is yet to
San Francisco-based fintech company, TomoCredit, has raised $122 million in funding and debt financing. The funding round was led by Morgan Stanley’s Next Level Fund and included Morgan Stanley’s Next Level Fund, MasterCard, and debt from Silicon Valley Bank. The funding will help the platform expand its credit product offerings to help support immigrants with no credit history in the US. TomoCredit, co-founded in 2018 by Kristy Kim and Dmitry Kashlev, is a fintech platform dedicated to providing the next generation with a credit card designed to help millennials boost
Mexico City-based fintech platform, Arrenda, has raised $26.5 million in a pre-seed funding round of equity and debt. The funding round, which Fasanara Capital and Kube Ventures led, also included ODX Ventures, Toehold Ventures, Wharton Fintech, Lightspeed Venture Partners Scour Fund, PRMM Inmobiliaria, and a range of angel investors. Arrenda, founded in 2022 by Joe Merullo, is a revenue-based startup that works to provide market-specific insurance and financial products to the real estate markets and landlords of Latin America. Not only does it offer advance payments to landlords, but it
