Black Tech Nation Ventures (BTN.vc), a venture firm based in Pittsburgh, has announced the final close of a $50 million inaugural fund. BTN.vc This fund specifically targets software startups led by founders from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds, including Black, Latinx, Indigenous, female, and LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. BTN.vc’s founding in 2020 resulted from a collaboration between three serial entrepreneurs, Kelauni Jasmyn, David Motley, and Seán Sebastian. The focus addresses the long-standing issue of inequity in funding and anticipates significant returns within the venture industry. “We set up BTN.vc to equip and train a
Recent data from Crunchbase reveals that there has been a disproportionate decline in venture funding for Black-founded startups in the United States. A Fall Below The $1B Threshold Last year, these startups secured only $705 million in funding, marking the first time since 2016 that the figure fell below the $1 billion threshold. This sharp decline of 71% in funding to Black-founded companies starkly contrasts with the 37% decrease in overall U.S. startup funding, highlighting a widening gap in investment allocation. This drop signifies a declining share of Black-founded startups
In Baltimore, a new social shopping platform, Xclusit, is transforming consumers’ engagement with Black-owned businesses. Vincent Johnson’s Journey Vincent Johnson, an Ellicott City-based entrepreneur and the CEO of Xclusit, crafted the platform to empower Black businesses. Johnson, a Vanderbilt University graduate with a master’s in divinity, initially focused on Black economics. His passion for entrepreneurship led him away from pursuing a PhD, instead dedicating himself to developing tech solutions that support Black-owned businesses. His journey in the tech world began with his first app, Coupify. Still, through direct engagement with
Chaymeriyia Moncrief, an Alabama native, has made a mark in the tech industry as the first Black woman to own a smart glasses brand. NSPRE Two years after founding Tesix Wireless Network, a millennial-focused wireless carrier., Moncrief launched NSPRE to ”inspire the culture through social technology“. From its inception in 2020, the brand swiftly progressed, raising $1.5 million in funding during its launch year. In June 2021, NSPRE established its headquarters in Alabama, reinforcing its foundation. NSPRE’s flagship product, the Smart Glasses, aims to represent a leap into the future of
Crowe LLP, in collaboration with Intuit Inc., has launched an innovative initiative called Crowe Beacon for minority-owned businesses. The Crowe Beacon Crowe LLP is a leading public accounting, consulting, and technology firm, and Intuit Inc. is the technology platform behind Intuit QuickBooks, TurboTax, Credit Karma, and Mailchimp. This initiative, announced in Chicago as part of Black History Month celebrations, aims to empower minority-owned small businesses by enhancing their financial maturity and capital readiness. The Crowe Beacon small business advancement initiative responds to the challenges faced by minority-owned businesses. The initative
Joe Cecala and Dwain J. Kyles are launching The Dream Exchange, which is set to become the first Black-owned stock exchange in the United States. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Influence The two, influenced by the civil rights movement and drawing inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., aim to bridge the gap between Main Street and Wall Street, creating a more inclusive financial marketplace. “What he [Dr. King] began to understand in the later years of his life [is] that you were not going to achieve equality anywhere in
Uber Technologies Inc. is set to invest in Nigerian startup Moove in a funding round that could reach up to $100 million, Bloomberg reports. Moove Founded in Lagos in 2020 by British-born Nigerian entrepreneurs Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, Moove has expanded its reach beyond its origins. The duo’s aim is to build the world’s largest integrated vehicle financing platform for mobility entrepreneurs. With its headquarters in Amsterdam, the company now operates across Africa, the UK, the UAE, and India. Moove’s innovative business model revolves around a unique credit-scoring system,
Black-owned startup The SMART Tire Company (STC) is calling on Black celebrities, investors, and engineers to help disrupt the global tire market industry at $300 billion. SMART tires: TIME’s Best Inventions STC is best known for its space-age tires, which are changing the way vehicles perform on and off the road. The tires were initially designed for NASA’s Mars Rover program, but STC was founded to commercialize this advanced tire technology as part of the FedTech NASA Startup Program. The company’s inaugural product is a high-performance, airless bicycle tire made
Two brothers, Adrian and Ronnie Wright, have launched the XB app to change how residents can discover and connect with Black-owned businesses in their area. The Journey Of XB The journey began with a Facebook group named “Black Portland,” created by Adrian in 2015. It was seen as a place of reconnection for the Black community in Portland, which faced numerous challenges during the 1980s. These included difficulties in securing mortgages and increasing crime rates in Black neighborhoods. “Displaced residents relocated eastward, while newcomers, often employed by major corporations, gravitated
SheMatters has recently secured a significant $2 million investment to launch its symptom tracker app. Founded by Jade Kearney (CEO) and Marguerite Pierce (COO), SheMatters is a pioneering digital health platform dedicated to improving maternal mortality in minority communities. The Symptom Tracker App The Symptom Tracker app is a new tool designed to empower expecting and new mothers in tracking vital signs and symptoms associated with serious complications. These complications could include preeclampsia, eclampsia, and Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelets (HELLP) syndrome. This technology is especially crucial for
