Black-owned fintech startup Conduiit has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to save entertainment companies time and money by centralizing their production finance operations. Disrupting the production finance space Conduiit is the brainchild of former Amazon and Netflix employees Shawn Hamilton, CEO, and Jason Thurman. The New York and New Jersey-based tech company provides users with digital workflows, SaaS, and DaaS solutions. It also offers budgeting, scheduling, cost tracking, and cash flow management guidance at project and corporate levels. Hamilton worked as a production accountant at Amazon from 2015 to 2017 when
Women with dark skin tones are getting more screen time and speaking time in US scripted television, a new study using advanced AI models has revealed. Despite improvements over the past 12 years, the study found that men with light skin tones still get the most screen and speaking time. See It, Be It See It, Be It: What Families Are Seeing on TV is a new study that analyzes trends in the screen and speaking time of the visually presenting attributes of characters. This includes gender, skin tone, and
UK businesses are seeking to rewrite tech’s historically poor reputation for diversity, Wiley Edge’s Diversity in Tech 2023 report found. The technology sector continues to be a driving force behind the global economy, with forecasts indicating that it is set only for further growth. However, the sector has yet to fully address an ongoing problem – the lack of workforce diversity. According to the report, as levels of income inequality reach new highs, the tech sector’s diversity dilemma puts it under added pressure to discover new ways of introducing more
CB Insights released its latest list of the world’s most promising startups, including a number of companies founded by people of color. CB Insights collected the company’s investors, headcount growth, and commercial relationships to identify 345 of the most promising private startups from their database of 1 million companies. The industries include fintech, AI, insurtech, generative AI, and retail tech. We have compiled a list of some people of color-owned startups featured. Airbase – Thejo Kote Thejo Kote founded Airbase in 2017 and has been its CEO since then. Airbase develops a modern
Vennard Wright is reinvesting profits into PerVista, an AI-powered gun detection technology to reduce gun violence. Wright founded Wave Welcome – an IT management company – in 2020 to deliver technology and cybersecurity services that empower dynamic organizations. It makes money from managing internal IT systems of businesses, universities, and government organizations, then invests profits into its own side projects. Wave Welcome is now working on a gun detection tech project, PerVista. Gun Detection Tech PerVista recognizes the increasing importance of digital security and built a solution to consolidate essential
Nicki Minaj fans, Barbz, have created an AI kingdom, Gag City, ahead of the release of the artist’s Pink Friday 2 album. The impressive pink creations have been trending across social media. Barbz turn to AI Gag City is an AI-generated kingdom created by Barbz. The pink alternative universe’s name is a wordplay for “gagged,” a slang to describe something amazing or stunning. After Nicki shared the cover art on her album – with her standing on a pink subway in a pink-tinted city – fans came up with the
Reshma Saujani has debuted PaidLeave.AI, her GPT-powered chatbot that helps parents navigate all Paid Family Leave options available to them in New York State, maximizing their benefits. Saujani is the founder of Moms First and Girls Who Code, who recently spoke about her concerns surrounding affordable childcare and paid leave in the US. “Applying for paid leave can mean an avalanche of paperwork, bureaucracy, and tons of confusing questions,” Saunjani wrote on LinkedIn. “I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve heard moms say: “I wish I had someone to walk me through this.” According to
Braze has expanded its product grant program, previously known as Tech for Black Founders – now called Tech for an Equitable Future. Braze is a comprehensive customer engagement platform that powers relevant and memorable experiences between consumers and the brands they love. Tech for Black Founders was launched in 2020 to address findings that only 1% of US founders backed by venture capital are Black. Today Braze’s program has 24 Black-founded businesses, including ten women-founded startups, active in the program, totaling $735,00 in annualized Braze product value. Tech For An Equitable
Blac Chyna, who reportedly made millions per month on OnlyFans, quit earlier this year and has now announced joining the subscription-based creator platform Passes. Chyna – whose real name is Angela White – was among the highest earners on OnlyFans but quit at the time, saying it was a dead end for her, and she wanted to set an example for her two kids in the future. Unlike OnlyFans, Passes doesn’t allow nudity or sexual content. Passes Miami-based creator platform Passes was founded in 2022 by Lucy Guo, who formerly co-founded Scale
Tech company Mozilla has added four members from diverse backgrounds to the board of its parent organization, the Mozilla Foundation. The New Board Members Mozilla’s new board members include Armenian-American Raffi Krikorian, CTO at the Emerson Collective, a social impact firm focusing on education, the environment, immigration, and social justice issues. He is also the former CTO of the Democratic National Committee, where he worked to make technology a focus for the Democrats, ensuring every campaign could have industry-quality technology. Alondra Nelson, professor of social science at the Institute for
