Four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry has partnered with AI platform Simplicity to help increase the quality of life for city-dwellers across the country. Simplicity is an AI-driven platform offering a one-stop shop for everything happening in a city. Through cutting-edge technology, Simplicity aims to simplify government services, streamline communication, and enhance cities’ relationships with local communities. The platform is already in operation in over 30 major cities across the US, from New York City to Austin and Los Angeles to Cleveland and more. Curry’s involvement with Simplicity is a natural extension of
Onu, founded by Lindsey Redd and Chine Ikoro, is a developer-first program designed to help engineers have a smoother workflow. The platform – yet to be launched – allows engineers to quickly turn their ops/CV-related scripts and workflows into internal tools without requiring frontend work. Redd and Ikoro are software engineers who met five years ago while working at Lyft and Stripe. The pair who are now YC founders started the initiative after experiencing first-hand how difficult it can be to operate in a fast-moving environment without internal tooling. Companies like Stripe have
The 18-Year-Old Making Computer Science Education Accessible For Students With Learning Disabilities
Mohammed Shirmohammadi – also known as “Mo” – is the 18-year-old founder of the non-profit organization Code Can Bridge. The initiative is actively working to make coding accessible to all students, regardless of socioeconomic status or abilities. Shirmohammadi – the brains behind the platform – has always been labeled a go-getter. In an interview with Forbes, the entrepreneur shared his long-term vision of leaving an everlasting dent in the universe, driven by technology. “Computer science is so impactful. We live in a world that’s basically computer-driven, and things are becoming more and
Long before Apple implemented color emojis, Katrina Parrott had devised the idea to create a diverse range of emojis for all skin tones. In 2013, Parrott had a lightbulb moment after her daughter complained she couldn’t send emojis that looked like her to her friends. Despite not knowing much about what emojis were – Parrott decided to invest her money into designing a diverse range of emojis. According to a report by BuzzFeed News, Parrott used all her savings to hire a software engineer, illustrator, and copyright specialist to launch
Kayla Austin has received a $25,000 grant from Pharrell Williams to help accelerate her gun safety start-up, My Gun’s Been Moved. Last year, the 19-year-old Howard University sophomore pitched her idea at Pharrell Williams’ Mighty Dream Forum and Black Ambition in Virginia. Her passion was awarded a $25,000 cash prize to help bring her business to new heights. Austin came up with the idea to launch a gun safety initiative at 12 years old after attending a youth program. “So, I found out that majority of shootings involving children and teens happen with a
This article was first published by Lillian Cartwright on Medium. Three years ago, when I founded ShelfLife, odds were I’d be writing this post about shutting down. The greater majority of startups fail. Although the definition of failure is up for debate, more than two-thirds of startups don’t deliver a positive return to investors. Couple this with the fact that in 2022, just 1% of venture capital went to Black founders and less than 2% went to all-female founding teams. And Black female founders raised…er, let’s not even go there. Against those odds, we
According to a new report by Harvard researchers, overlooked Black businesses that added a ‘Black-owned’ label to their online shop saw a significant increase in sales last year. Many tech platforms, including Yelp, Amazon, and Instagram, have introduced a new feature with the aim of helping Black-owned businesses get the spotlight they deserve – but do they actually work? Since the feature has been rolled out, many have questioned whether it works or would prove problematic for smaller businesses in the future. However, Harvard says this feature has proved to be highly beneficial for Black-owned
Dr. Kimberly Clay, founder of Play Like A Girl, is using her passion for STEM and sports to teach young women how to become executive leaders in the corporate field. Play Like A Girl is a charitable organization fighting to help every girl – no matter their background – reach their full potential in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) industry. Since 2019, Play Like a Girl has partnered with the NFL to infuse the sports discipline with the skillset needed to excel in STEM. Play Like A Girl is
Sparkee, a Black woman-owned tech company, is revolutionizing how we charge our phones. Their new product – which is currently available for pre-order – is the fastest charging device for those constantly on the go. It is compatible with all phone models and holds two USB-C Ports, allowing users to charge three devices simultaneously.  The Sparkee device is the sleekest device modernizing how we charge our phones through its wire-free programming, giving users multiple ways to charge their devices. It takes away the idea of having to “put your phone
The winner of the Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic Startup Pitch Competition has finally been announced. Out of 200 startups who applied to participate in the competition, only one has made it to the finishing line. Child-friendly music app, Healthy Hip Hop, has officially been crowned the winner of the startup pitch competition. The platform, founded in 2019 by Roy Scott, is an educational app aimed at children, infusing hip-hop culture with innovative technology. Last year, Michael B. Jordan announced that the Invesco QQQ startup pitch competition had returned for its second year in partnership
