Black 10-year-old Ava Simmons has partnered with retailers across the US and Canada to launch her Team Genius Squad STEM toy line. Team Genius Squad Team Genius Squad is a movement and an aspiring brand created by 10-year-old Ava, also known as the STEM Princess. Their mission is to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) awareness, encouraging individuals to believe in themselves, to identify their uniqueness, and to pursue their goals. They design STEM-inspired products such as Experiment Lab Kits, Jewelry, Lip Gloss, Puzzles and Apparel whilst developing fun
ELSA, the tech company that teaches English through speech recognition and machine learning, has raised $23 million in a Series C fund. ELSA ELSA – English Language Speech Assistant – is an engaging app to help users improve their English pronunciation. It started when Vu Van, CEO and co-founder of ELSA, left Vietnam to pursue an MBA and Master’s in Education at Stanford University. According to ELSA’s website, Vu was confident in her English vocabulary but knew she had a strong Vietnamese accent. Her professors and classmates could not always
Business owners of color seeking Small Business Administration (SBA) loans can no longer say their race is a disadvantage without a three-page letter to back it up. According to the Insider, applicants must complete a “social disadvantage narrative” to receive funding through the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development program. SBA’s 8 (a) Program The 8(a) Business Development program is a robust nine-year program created to help firms owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Businesses participating in the program receive training and technical assistance designed to strengthen their ability
Airbnb has announced Google’s Senior Vice President of Research, Tech and Society, James Manyika, is joining its Board of Directors. Meet James Manyika Zimbabwe-born Manyika is Senior Vice President of Google’s Research, Tech and Society Team, a role which includes overseeing Google Labs and Google Research. Manyika is a graduate of both the University of Zimbabwe and the University of Oxford, where he holds two master’s degrees and a PhD in AI and Robotics. He also was a senior partner at McKinsey & Co. and sat as the chairman and
Okra Solar, a technology startup working with local utilities to transform communities, has closed its Series A funding round. Mesh grid technology With 770 million people living without clean, reliable access to power, the tech startup aims to transform off-grid communities with mesh grids. Mesh grids are the fastest-growing technology solution for electrifying off-grid households. With a mesh grid, neighbors are connected, sharing renewable energy 24/7, which allows them to consume more than they would on their own. Each house contains a solar panel, battery and an Okra Pod, ensuring
FTX seeks to reverse payments made to Shaquille O’Neal, Naomi Osaka, Stephen Curry, and other celebrity athletes who promoted the crypto exchange before it filed for bankruptcy. FTX’s collapse Sam Bankman-Fried started FTX in 2019 as a digital currency exchange platform that lets people buy and trade cryptocurrency. Customers began opening accounts on FTX to trade and buy cryptocurrency, and top venture capital investors began pouring into it. According to Tech Target, by January 2022, the company was worth $32 billion. However, that ended in November 2022 when an accounting
Black entrepreneur Chriss Rogers has created the first ever protective mouth grill through her company Ease. Houston-born Rogers launched Ease in 2021 after closing her eight-year-old online boutique shop Chriss Zoe the year before. To date, Rogers has primarily self-funded her venture, and her social media has played a huge role as clips of her products have gone viral, leading to increased sales. Mouth Grills Rogers told AFROTECH she wanted to attach herself to a product she could be proud of, which is why she invented the new protective mouth
After closing in February, Black-owned non-profit organization Kwanda has returned with a new structure and a brand new product. On Kwanda’s new platform, Moyo, givers can come together to provide a stable monthly income to people below the poverty line. Kwanda’s Journey Kwanda launched in 2020 with a platform that brought individuals together to pool capital to fund grants and infrastructure projects across Africa. It is a modern collection pot for Black communities, modelled on the age-old practice of collective finance in African Caribbean communities, Jermaine Craig, founder of Kwanda,
TIME chose the 100 Most Influential People in Artificial Intelligence for the TIME100/AI, featuring several people of color. TIMES’ most knowledgeable editors and reporters spent months fielding recommendations from dozens of sources to assemble hundreds of nominations they whittled down. “We wanted to highlight the industry leaders at the forefront of the AI boom, individuals outside these companies who are grappling with profound ethical questions around the uses of AI, and the innovators around the world who are trying to use AI to address social challenges,” said executive editor Naina
Amazon Catalytic Capital, launched in 2022, has announced four new venture capital funds, bringing its total portfolio to eight. Amazon Catalytic Capital Amazon Catalytic Capital was launched as a $150 million commitment focused on investing in Black, Latine, Indigenous, women and LGBTQIA+ builders in tech. Specifically, the initiative provides capital to funds, venture studios, accelerators, or incubators that back startups led by underrepresented founders. Recipients also receive 1:1 mentorship from Amazon executives and unique business opportunities for partnerships, technical support, and scaling resources. Amazon Catalytic Capital has announced its investment
