Greenwood, the digital banking platform for Black and Latino individuals, has launched their new app, Greenwood Invest. Greenwood is a financial technology company used through a mobile platform inspired by the early 1900s Greenwood District, where the recirculation of Black wealth occurred all day. According to recent reports, Black households held just 4% of total household wealth in the US in 2020 despite making up over 13% of the population. Additionally, only 33% of Black households and 24% of Hispanic households owned stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) compared to 61% of white households.
Fuse Media has turned to AI dubbing for a Spanish-language version of its FAST channel Backstage. Fuse Media is a Latino-owned, global entertainment company, leading in the creation and distribution of inclusive, purpose-driven stories and experiences for and with culturally diverse young adults. Some of the shows have won awards such as the Peabody, Emmys, Critics Choice, and Candian Screen Awards as well as their diversity awards from NAACP, Imagen, GLAAD, the Gracies, and NAMIC. The Latino-owned platform has now teamed with UK-based AI dubbing company Papercup to launch Backstage
Media and ad tech company Hero Media has launched the first-ever machine learning-powered, Black-owned demand-side platform (DSP). DSPs are automated ad-buying platforms where advertisers and agencies go to purchase digital ad inventory. Hero One, powered by AdTheorent, enables advertisers to leverage AI and machine learning to put brand messages in front of the right consumer at the right time in a contextually relevant way. Is Advertising Representative? While 2021 witnessed a surge in diversity and inclusion efforts, momentum seemingly dwindled the following year. In 2022, the advertising sector remained largely white-dominated, comprising 64.63% white professionals. Platforms
Black-owned fintech startup Mozaic has raised a $20 million Series A round to make it easier for creators to split payments with each other and get paid for their work. Helping creators get paid Marcus Cobb, CEO, and Rachel Knepp, SVP of Growth, founded Mozaic (previously Jammber) in 2015. The platform initially aimed to make it easy to handle different parts of the music business from your mobile phone – from songwriting credits and rights to ticketing and touring. However, Mozaic decided to pivot away from the B2B side of
Albantsho, the first screenwriting tool created by African screenwriters for African screenwriters, has launched its first feature – The Scriptwriter. Albantsho Julie Ako and Nikita Mokgware from Nigeria and Botswana founded Albantsho in 2020. Their goal is to showcase the potential of African storytelling, foster authentic content representative of Africa, and empower creatives. With growing global investment in motion pictures in Africa, a higher demand is placed on authentic stories from diverse voices. Albantsho is a movement, and they’ve charged themselves with finding bold new narratives of Africa by Africans
Every year, Forbes releases their long-awaited list of young innovators shaping today’s world. This year marks Forbes 30 Under 30’s 13th annual list of entrepreneurs. The list featured a handful of Black people innovating in tech, from tackling toxic language online to working on the first crewed space mission to Mars. So, let’s meet some of them. Tony Morino, Co-Founder of Wiseday Morino co-founded Wiseday in 2021 to help Canadian homeowners get the best and cheapest mortgage rates. Morina co-founded the company with his friends and long-time acquaintances in 2021
Black women remain the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs, more than doubling in number since August 2019, according to a new report by GoDaddy Venture Forward. GoDaddy Venture Forward is a research initiative that quantifies the impact of over 20 million microbusinesses on their local economies and provides a unique view into these entrepreneurs’ attitudes, demographics, and needs. In August 2023, Venture Forward completed its 10th national survey with responses from over 6,000 small business owners across the US and UK. Black microbusiness ownership Most of the businesses surveyed were microbusinesses,
Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) has announced the close of its Morgan Stanley Next Level Fund, aimed at early-stage tech companies led by underrepresented entrepreneurs. The fund has closed at its target size of $50 million of total capital commitments with investors including Hearst, Microsoft, and Walmart. Morgan Stanley’s Next Level Morgan Stanley’s Next Level is MSIM’s impact-focused private equity business. It makes privately negotiated equity and equity-related venture capital investments in primarily stage tech and tech-enabled companies with women or underrepresented founders as part of the founding team. “We
The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) has announced a new partnership with Google. It aims to highlight Google’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) platform systems for young college talent. SWAC is considered one of the premier Historically Black Universities and Colleges (HBCU) conferences in the country, and currency ranks among the elite in the nation in terms of HBCU alums playing with professional sports teams. The Initative Through the initiative, SWAC and Google are focused on providing an innovative approach to engage students in tech during their college tenure,
The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation and Amazon have partnered to bring Native American and Indigenous teams together in Robotics. The REC Foundation The REC Foundation is a global organization dedicated to increasing student engagement in science, technology, engineering, math, and computer science (STEM). They engage students in hands-on, curriculum-based robotics and drone programs. The foundation empowers educators to inspire and equip students for success through comprehensive programs encompassing competitions, education, and workforce readiness. Now, partnering with Amazon, Indigitize, and Google, they are bringing Native American and Indigenous teams
