Techish · Techish is back with a brand new episode! Abadesi and Michael discuss how Rihanna (and co.) built Savage X Fenty by disrupting the beauty industry with diverse, inclusive, sex-positive campaigns, and a strategic partnership with Amazon. (00:15) They also break down: LVMH shuts down Rihanna’s Fashion House Bitcoin hits 50K! (6:15) Tim Cook vs Mark Zuckerberg (12:20) Daniel Kaluuya sparks convo about power, race, and language in the media (20:31) This Episode Is Sponsored By Aha! They are hiring! Sr. Ruby on Rails Engineer! Apply here Sr. Product Marketing Manager! Apply here
Nigeria, often dubbed ‘Africa’s Silicon Valley,’ is making a name for itself. Meet the talented Nigerians on the continent and the diaspora leading tech companies, building multi-million [and even billion] dollar businesses, investing in their community, and taking their talents globally. Tope Awotona | Founder, Calendly Awotona spent his early years as the second youngest in seven in a lower class neighborhood of Lagos, Nigeria. Yet, Awotona is the mastermind and founder behind a rarity – a Black-owned unicorn, the scheduling powerhouse, ‘Calendly.’ In an interview with Fortune, Tope talks
What we know for so far Colin Kaepernick intends to raise $250 million through a SPAC, a blank-check company. Named ‘Mission Advancement’ it will target a $1billion US company that has a social mission. The SPAC board is made up entirely of Black, Indigenous and people of color and majority women. Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who took a knee during the national anthem to protest systemic racism and police brutality —is now searching for a $1 billion company with a social purpose. Kaepernick known for his
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
The “Pipeline” is Blocked At The Top — With the recent uprising against systemic racism in our governmental institutions and society, there has been an increased focus on the on the lack of funding for underrepresented founders. Only 1% of VC funded startup founders are Black, Latinas have received .04% of VC funding, women of color can expect an average of $42k seed funding vs. the average seed funding of $1m, the list of stats goes on. Yet the problem is far deeper than startup founder-level stats. It exists at the other side of
Women founders of color deserve recognition — and money. It’s time to replace the window-dressing with real representation. On International Women’s Day, we should focus on the numbers and the right numbers. International Women’s Day (#IWD2020) was designed to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of all women — while also marking a call to action for accelerating gender equality. So instead of letting this day pass as yet another PR opportunity to highlight a company or firm’s gender diversity with one specific racial background, let’s take a
TL;DR We don’t have a diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DEI) tech industry. We need one to serve the market better, take the money that’s being left on the table, and produce outsized returns for all. There’s a lack of dollars going to underestimated founders and companies addressing underserved communities, and a lack of diverse check writers. How can we make it a DEI tech industry? Approaches can include, but are not limited to: Increasing the number of underestimated tech talent (also promote, sponsor, and pay well) Increasing the dollars going
Arlan Hamilton — founder and managing partner at Backstage Capital — summarized best why investing in Black Female Founders (BFF) isn’t just important, but could produce high yields: “Less than 0.2 percent of all early-stage venture funding goes to Black women, while we make up approximately 8 per cent of the U.S. population and are one of the fastest-growing entrepreneur segments in the country,” Arlan wrote. “It is my firm belief that because Black women have had to make do with far less for centuries, equipping them with early-stage capital that is
Every year around 0.2% of business funding goes to Black women so last year when Joycelyn and I set out to raise £360k ($450k) whilst I had a very visible baby bump, we knew we’d have a serious fight on our hands… At this year’s London Tech Week, I was flicking through my notes and saw that a year ago we didn’t know the difference between VC and angel investment. Under a year after attending events to learn about investment, in an environment where young black women aren’t funded, we
