Kicking off Black History Month in the US Backstage Capital has announced they’re opening their fund to allow regular people to invest alongside Backstage Capital. Through the crowdsourcing platform, Republic, individuals will have easier access to become venture capitalists. Opening the doors of opportunity for regular people to invest like a VC. It’s already raised $1M from over 2000 investors, with amounts as a little as $100. Leading the way with a new approach to venture capital investing, accredited and non-accredited investors can invest alongside Backstage giving talented underrepresented founders access to capital.
The number of Black-owned businesses has risen dramatically. Research shows, since 2007, the number of firms owned by African-American women has grown by 164%. Yet despite the knowledge, innovation, and let’s face it – the hustle, minority entrepreneurs, are being shut out when it comes to access to capital. However, many Black and Brown celebrities are growing their investment portfolios and flexing their VC muscle. Not only are they investing in startups and hooking up founders with serious capital, but they are also using their platform and wealth to empower
Update: Meet Five Black-Led Startups That Have Achieved Unicorn Status The term unicorn in the tech space is synonymous with hugely successful tech companies (think Uber, Airbnb, Stripe, Pinterest, & DropBox). Its a term given to a private company with a $1 billion valuation. Although still very much a rarity, the number of unicorn startups is higher than ever. According to recent stats, there are 506 tech unicorns globally. So how does a company founded by a POC reach unicorn status? There is no definitive recipe for success. When less than
Damilola Olokesusi is the Co-founder and CEO of Shuttlers, a tech transport startup. In 2015, Olokesusi and her friends — Damilola Quadry and Busola Majekodunmi — were frustrated by the stress of commuting in Lagos, Nigeria. And following some nasty experiences, they decided to start Shuttlers. “One of my sisters got into a one-chance bus (a commercial bus used for robbing passengers), and it was a traumatic experience for me. She was taken to another destination where they were abducted and robbed. Having had our different bus experiences, we realised it was a collective pain point for us.
With some of the fastest-growing global economies, the African startup scene continues to flourish. By using technology to solve problems, disrupt the status quo, and create jobs, African entrepreneurs are leading the tech revolution. Meet seven game-changing female entrepreneurs from fintech, health, education, and home care, and see how they are redefining the business landscape and improving lives. Odunayo Eweniyi, Co-Founder and COO of Piggybank.ng PiggyVest wants to be the company “allowing young people to take full advantage of the financial ecosystem without having to break the bank for it.” Odunayo
What You Will Learn in This Post I will share hard numbers, actual decisions, and strategic reasoning with you so you can learn from what my cofounders and I did and see that it is OK to take risks where you don’t know for sure if something is going to work out. I will not discuss the unique operating decisions or industry dynamics because they are not important to embrace the spirit of our experience so that you may be encouraged to go boldly to build your vision. You will
Last week, Stripe announced it had purchased the Nigerian startup, Paystack for an estimated 200 million dollars. Founded in 2015 by Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, Paystack is a platform designed to deliver a safe, convenient, and modern payment experience for customers and merchants in Africa. Background The idea for Paystack was born when Akinlade built a simple way of integrating a card transaction into a website. It was the simplicity of how it worked that propelled him and Olubi to think about developing it into a platform for others.
Subscribe to the Techish Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, And Other Platforms. Techish · That Coinbase Blog Post, Black Fishing, Black Owned Calendly Secures the Bag! The first episode of season 4. Abadesi and Michael discuss Calendly founder Tope Awotona scaling his company to $60million! They also break down: That Coinbase blog post (00:40) Social Network 10 year anniversary (13:16) Black Fishing with Jessica Krug (20.26) Saying no to free speaking gigs (17:00) Extras: Want more Techish? Get our paid podcast Extra-ish on Patreon: Advertise with Techish: Please rate and review the Techish podcast
The other day, I posted a poll on what post I should write next, and 57.1% voted for a “founders resource guide.” And because I’m working on a first-time founders course, I thought I’d focus the guide on first-time founders. Here we go… In this post, you’ll find: Founder Basics A Note for Underestimated Founders Resources And although the concepts that I share in the Founder Basics are simple, in the +1,000 startups I’ve reviewed for investment, I’ve seen first-time founders skip these foundational blocks, spend a lot of time and money, and
In the last few decades, business activities around the globe have become increasingly mobile, and thankfully, Africa isn’t left out. The continent has become an eager adopter and innovator in virtually all things digital and mobile. The more than 122 million active users of mobile financial services across Africa lends credence to this claim. However, when choosing locations, innovators have to be deliberate as they need to consider who will use their products. Expert opinion has it that being intentional about where to locate a business strongly impacts growth prospects and profitability.
