Black-owned venture capital firm, Backstage Capital, has cut 75% of its operational staff due to fundraising and growth challenges, both externally and internally. Backstage Capital, founded by Arlan Hamilton in 2015, was one of the first VC firms to dedicate their services to minimizing the funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders of color, women, and LGBT members. The firm, which Hamilton built from the ground up while homeless, invested in over 170 start-up companies led by underrepresented founders. The decision to downsize its team came just three
The tech industry has spent a decade publicly reckoning with its diversity problem. Still, Black and Hispanic workers hold just 7% and 8% of computer worker roles in the U.S., though they represent 11% and 17% of the country’s total workforce, respectively, according to the Pew Research Center. With the Metaverse becoming increasingly popular, it’s important to hold those in power accountable. Earlier this year, reporter Yinka Bokinni wrote a piece in the Guardian about her experiences in the Metaverse. “But within the first 10 minutes of putting on a
22-year-old Khaby Lame (@khaby.lame) has officially become the most-followed person on TikTok after accumulating 142.8 million followers on the platform, ultimately making him the official king of TikTok. Khaby Lame, who first joined the app in March 2020, managed to cultivate a cult-like following in just over a year without saying a word. Over the past few weeks, his fans across the world launched a social media hashtag (#KhabyToNumberOne) to push him past TikTok creator Charli D’Amelio, who previously held the top spot with 142.3 million followers. “I don’t care
After weeks of speculation about a leaked draft opinion that indicated that abortion would no longer be guaranteed as a federal right but instead left up to the states to decide, the United States Supreme Court has officially overturned Roe v. Wade. The move will allow more than half of states to ban abortion, with an immediate and enduring impact on tens of millions of Americans. The court decided there is no constitutional right to abortion in a case called Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In reaching that decision, the conservative-majority
YouTube has officially opened grant applications for the #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund Class of 2023. The $100 million funds will amplify and nurture Black voices in the creator community. The grant program, which the video platform first launched in 2020, was primarily designed to help support and nurture Black creators and artists, from musicians and lawyers to gamers and fitness instructors. The scheme has welcomed over 300 grantees from the United States, Kenya, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, and Nigeria in just over two years. The program has not
After shooting his music video “House I Built in the metaverse, Snoop Dogg has decided to explore a series of new ventures. According to a tweet by trademark attorney Michael Kondoudis, Snoop Dogg, real name Calvin Broadus, applied for new trademarks for his new digital cannabis project. The musician filed a claim under the brand names “UNCLE SNOOP” and “UNCLE SNOOP’s.” The virtual business will provide various products, including virtual clothing, headwear, footwear, energy drinks, and pre-rolled hemp cigarettes. Users can also purchase virtual cannabis and downloadable cannabis products authenticated
TikTok user Natasha (@tashathecaptain) worked as a tech lead at a drink distribution company. She helped create new systems to help support drivers who may have experienced technical issues traveling across the country. After three years, she decided to resign after feeling overworked, underpaid, and a lack of recognition for some of the new initiatives she had implemented and created to help build the company. After attending her first-ever tech conference in Colorado, Natasha was taken aback by the lack of diversity. After realizing she was the only Black woman
Meta Chicago is reportedly set to launch software engineering courses to bring more Black people into tech. The underrepresentation of African Americans in tech has been an issue since the 1970s when the Bay Area became Silicon Valley. And while one can say it’s gotten better, there is still a way to go. In 2018, according to Silicon Valley Bank, only 1% of venture capital dollars went to Black start-up founders, and Black employees made up only 2.8% of Google’s technical roles and 4.8% of their entire workforce. More recently, Twitter reported
Calaxy, a Black-owned web3 social marketplace, has raised $26 million in strategic funding co-led by Animoca Brands and HBAR Foundation with support from Polygon. This raise follows a $7.5 million seed round in 2021 with investors like Animoca Brands, Red Beard Ventures, ArkStream Capital, NGC Ventures, and Genesis Block Ventures. The seed round also had support from NFL player Ezekiel Elliott, “The Bachelor” Matt James, and former PayPal head of Blockchain Strategy Jonathan Padilla, among others. Calaxy aims to build a new infrastructure that allows content creators, ranging from small influencers to big-time celebrities, to
If you search ‘migrants’ on Tiktok, you get a host of videos from desperate individuals trying to secretly enter lorries and being caught out to news about the thousands of young men that have lost their lives trying to make the journey. But some TikTok videos and Instagram accounts that aggregated these videos of sea journeys show before and after footage alongside images of the same migrants walking along well-groomed European streets and posing in front of monuments like the Eiffel Tower. These videos may give the impression to some
