Black Business Month is well and truly underway. To celebrate, video-sharing platform TikTok has announced it is now accepting applications for its third annual ‘Support Black Businesses’ accelerator program. The accelerator program, launched in 2020 in the wake of the George Floyd protests, aims to help elevate the voices of Black-owned businesses on TikTok. Through the initiative, Black entrepreneurs will have exclusive access to resources, benefits, and networking opportunities. The program will also offer entrepreneurs custom virtual training sessions across four weeks to help them accelerate their business on TikTok.
“If I have to choose between building my tennis resumé and building my family, I choose the latter.” World acclaimed tennis player Serena Williams recently announced in an interview with Vogue that she would be stepping away from tennis and “evolving away from the sport,” – so what does the future look like for Williams? Two years ago, Serena Williams launched her first-ever venture capital firm, Serena Ventures. Williams has used her platform to invest in early-stage companies and has also carried out five exits valued at over $100 million.
Last month, Kenya’s ICT Minister announced that it had no plans to ban Facebook or shut down the Internet despite reports emerging that the platform is failing to combat hate speech that could lead to election violence. The statement came after Global Witness, an advocacy group, and Foxglove, a non-profit legal firm, released a report stating that Facebook “appallingly failed to detect hate speech ads in the two official languages of the country: Swahili and English.” Although Facebook released a blog post on July 20th that detailed its plans to combat
Streaming video service, Amazon Prime, has announced the launch of a new localized version of its streaming service in Nigeria. The company launched in Africa in 2016 and is committed to expanding its services to more than 200 countries. Amazon Prime also plans to expand its services in other markets like South Africa to boost its subscribers in new markets. The video streaming services will feature local-language interfaces and subtitling. The launch will benefit the local community as the platform is committed to investing in local production and aims to
Black Business Month has officially arrived. To kickstart this month, online marketplace, FLOURYSH, has announced its partnership with e-commerce platform, Shopify, to help elevate 1 million Black-owned businesses, providing them with the necessary tools needed to scale and grow. The FLOURYSH x Shopify partnerships aim to address the lack of access to information, a common setback for aspiring entrepreneurs. According to the press release, Black business owners receive a 120-day free trial on the e-commerce platform. “The partnership came to be because of our continued commitment to providing resources and
Black-owned digital marketplace, Clutch, has raised $1.2 million in a pre-seed investment fund. The funding round which Precursor Ventures led also included Capital Factory and HearstLab. Clutch, co-founded in 2020 by Madison Long and Simone May, is a digital marketplace for emerging brands and creators. According to the outlet, Long and May built the platform to provide a space where creators can launch, market, and grow their side hustles. Clutch works to create a world where authentic, engaging work supports a more sustainable, equitable lifestyle. As a people-first platform, creators
TikTok’s African moderators are calling out the platform for forcing them to review hundreds of disturbing and graphic videos with little to no psychological help. According to a report by Business Insider, moderators spent hours reviewing graphic videos for less than $3 an hour. From viewing horrific child-abuse material to explicit videos of people dying by suicide, moderators undergo psychological distress because of their jobs. “The devil of this job is that you get sick slowly – without even noticing it. You think it’s not a big deal but it
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
“We were made to look like fools,” one creator said. Content creators are calling out TikTok’s rival, Triller, for recruiting Black talent and not committing to paying them on time or sometimes not at all. According to The Washington Post, more than two dozen creators, talent managers, and former company staff have anonymously decided to speak out against the platform. Many recalled their experiences of being forced to cope with uncertain payments, a demanding posting schedule, and vague requirements throughout their partnership with the platform. In 2021, the video-sharing app
Tech giant, Apple, has launched its inaugural Entrepreneur Camp for Hispanic/Latinx founders and developers. This year’s program will specifically focus on supporting Latinx founders and will encourage leaders and developers from nine app companies in the US, Brazil, Guatemala, and Portugal to build the next generation of apps. “We are so excited to bolster the impact of Entrepreneur Camp with the addition of this new cohort for Latin technologists,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives. “It’s an honor to support these founders and
