Black-owned startup Robin AI has raised $26 million in new funding for its next growth and global expansion phase. RobinAI The AI-driven contract editor is the brainchild of former Clifford Chance lawyer Richard Robinson and former machine learning research scientist James Clough. Founded in 2019, Robin AI uses generative AI to automate and speed up the process of drafting and negotiating contracts and extracting information from across entire contract repositories through simple search. The startup trained its machine learning model on data from 4.5 million legal documents with input from in-house lawyers to create
The StoryGraph, a Black woman-owned cataloging web platform for books, took to X, formerly Twitter, announcing they have had to take their platform offline to upgrade its servers. The StoryGraph The StoryGraph, founded by Nadia Odunayo, is a competitor of Amazon-owned social cataloging platform Goodreads as it uses a freemium model, with some features only available in a subscription plan. Founded in 2019, StoryGraph was initially a side project for tracking books. After studying at Oxford University, Odunayo went into the world of software engineering but, in 2019, decided to work
Many of us have kickstarted 2024 with goals for the new year. These goals range from learning more about our finances and getting fit to prioritizing our wellbeing or simply reading more. We have compiled a list of some Black-owned apps that may help you on your way! Prioritize Your Wellbeing – Exhale Black founder Katara McCarty launched her app, Exhale, in 2020 after struggling to find an app suited to Black women’s wellbeing. Exhale is the first emotional wellbeing app for Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color (BIWOC). The app coaches users through
This year’s top stories reflect the challenges, opportunities, and dynamic changes in the tech industry and broader society. Unsurprisingly, many of these years’ top stories concern the boom in generative AI, from developing the “BlackGPT” to concerns around the historical and present-day harms and philosophies underpinning AI developments. We’ve also shared stories of Black innovation, Latine entrepreneurship, workplace wins and challenges, collective triumph, and personal tragedy. Here are the ten stories that resonated with you, our POCIT readers, the most this year. 10. Cash App’s Appeal in the Black Community
Black Tech Saturdays is an initiative amplifying Black representation in technology, originated from the vision of Detroit-based couple Johnnie and Alexa Turnage. Inspired by the tech ecosystem in Baltimore and guided by the equitech framework, the Turnages expanded their mission to cultivate wealth and community for Black tech professionals. This movement is not just about fostering professional connections; it embodies the pursuit of “Black joy” – the freedom to pursue dreams with creativity and impact. The Detroit-Baltimore Connection With a background in grassroots organizing and influenced by Dug Song, co-chair of
Atlanta’s Black-founded and centered membership club, The Gathering Spot (TGS), and digital banking platform Greenwood are going their separate ways. The Events Leading Up To The Separation Last May, The Gathering Spot was acquired by Greenwood. Over the last year, however, there were reported disputes between the two companies, including reports of a lawsuit filed by TGS co-founders Ryan Wilson and T’Keel Petersen. They alleged that Greenwood co-founder and CEO Ryan Glover, and board member Dr Paul Judge had committed fraud and deception. In July of this year, Glover and Wilson announced they had resolved
Latimer, the innovative AI platform named after the African-American inventor Lewis Latimer, has taken a significant step towards making generative AI more inclusive and historically accurate. The platform announced an exclusive content license agreement with the New York Amsterdam News, one of the nation’s most influential and oldest continuously published Black newspapers. Historically Accurate Training Data Amsterdam News has been a pioneering force in Black journalism since 1909. The newspaper is also known for its innovative approaches and significant milestones, such as being the first Black newspaper unionized in all departments.
BlackRhino VR, a leading Kenyan extended reality tech company, has launched MediAR. The groundbreaking augmented reality (AR) platform aims to revolutionize how creators engage with AR technology, empowering them within Africa’s burgeoning creative economy. Empowering Creatives, Democratizing Tech BlackRhino VR was founded by in 2015 by medical student-turned-filmmaker Michael Ilako and deejay-turned-brand manager Brian Afande. The company’s no-code AR cloud editor and publishing platform, MediAR, is positioned as Africa’s first. As a no-code platform, creatives can produce AR content without any previous coding or programming experience. MediAR features an intuitive
London-based fintech startup Jenesys AI has secured $1.1 million in a pre-seed funding round. Founded in late 2022 by Nicolai Thomson and Dr Tosin Dairo, Jenesys elevates the role of bookkeepers and accountants with a conversational AI named “Jack”. The investment round was led by Twin Path Ventures, with contributions from Fuel Ventures, Antler, Hatcher+ in Singapore, and seasoned angel investors from the US and UK. Meet Jack: The conversational AI Jenesys AI’s flagship product is “Jack,” a conversational AI designed to support finance teams. Integrated with platforms like Slack
Lagos-based fashion and beauty e-commerce platform Maka has raised $2.65 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Pan-African venture capital firms 4DX Ventures and Janngo Capital. Other contributors include Palm Drive Capital, angel investor Jonathan Shipman, and executives from delivery platform Wolt. Maka Maka empowers trusted creators to live-stream and sell directly to their audiences. The platform allows shoppers to purchase through live-streams, on-demand videos, or online catalogs. Founded in 2021 by Diana Owusu-Kyereko, former CEO of Jumia Ghana and ex-CCO of Jumia Kenya, Maka originated as an interactive social commerce platform. During the
