The platform, launched in 2020, is designed to make Black candidates accessible to corporations, connect Black-owned start-ups with major brands, pair young tech employees with experienced workers for mentorship, and teach small-business owners how to raise capital. Launched by Leke Sholuade in September last year – it now has a global community of 208 plus mentors from multinational companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Uber, Facebook, Cisco, LEGO ventures, and SMEs. It reportedly has a three-phased approach to make sure the future of tech is an inclusive one for Black people.
Schools across the UK and Ireland are to receive hundreds of books celebrating Black women in the tech industry to amplify the stories of 51 of them excelling in the sector. Tech London Advocates (TLA) Black Women in Tech released their first book, ‘The Voices in the Shadow’ at the end of October and pledged to give away their first 300 copies free to students. Now – it’s finally happening. According to the BSC (British Computer Society), The Chartered Institute for IT, the representation of women in the tech industry has increased
Raising capital isn’t easy. Having spoken to dozens of founders this year, I’ve realized that fundraising money – whether that’s from investors, friends, family, or the general public – seems to be the biggest hurdle for almost every business owner. The constant headlines of Series A announcements make it seem like there’s no better time for entrepreneurs to raise venture capital, but the statistics for venture capital funding to Black founders are still quite dire. In the UK between 2009 and 2019 just 0.24 percent of venture capital went to a team
Black entrepreneurs know the climb to getting substantial funding from investors can be practically a vertical ascent. Venture-backed founders tend to all look the same with 73 percent of all founding teams composed exclusively of men while 60 percent of founding teams are exclusively White. But here at POCIT news, we believe our community of great founders, engineers, and designers can do it all and our job is to provide you with insight, tips, and timely news. We’ve compiled a list of all the places you can get funding as
A few days ago, I got an email regarding a Black-led, Gen Z fintech startup providing income-constrained individuals with investment opportunities. The release said the company, run by a 22-year-old and 25-year-old duo, had just announced their Series A investment round. This – of course – immediately caught my attention because I’m eager to highlight the achievements of young people in tech, but I was even more ecstatic when I saw the figure – Sheridan Clayborne and Mitchell Jones had managed to raise a whopping $18million in their fundraising round.
A Black-led, Gen Z fintech startup providing income-constrained individuals investment opportunities has announced an $18M Series A investment round. The group of diverse investors rallying up to fund Lendtable’s future included SoftBank’s SB Opportunity Fund, Valor Equity Partners, and CEOs of Complex Networks and Social Finance, Inc. The fintech firm, run by founders under 30-years-old, has already disbursed over $2.4 million in match benefits to hundreds of employees in just a year, running the gamut from those employed by small consumer brand companies to Fortune 500 companies like Google, Microsoft,
Kela Ivonye is trying to solve the tech diversity issue through his new organization and micro fund, Protégé. After all, it was the connections he fostered as a founder, coupled with his determination and supportive network that led him to a successful exit from his innovative mailbox company Mailhaven Inc. in 2019. Now he’s using his experience, expertise, and knowledge to help Black entrepreneurs succeed by connecting them with Super founders for mentorship and investment. He co-founded the platform, a nonprofit and micro fund, to cultivate community among black founders in
A Black-owned startup providing non-intrusive audio ads within mobile games has just raised $14M in its series A round. Makers Fund and Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round. Also participating in the fundraising was the Sequoia Scout Program and Google. The total investment for AudioMob to date is now at $16 million. From kicking off in 2020, founders Christian Facey, CEO, and Wilfrid Obeng, CTO, have seen recent client successes with artists including Ed Sheeran and Nas alongside brands like Intel, Jeep, and KitKat who all saw relative metric achievements
A new initiative from the Greater Augusta Black Chamber of Commerce Foundation hopes to help Black start-up owners navigate starting a small firm, with a new program providing training and grants of $3,000 for 25 Augusta area entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurship training program already has several business owners hoping to participate. The 25 initial participants will go through four weeks of training and six weeks of coaching, learning everything from record-keeping and insurance to marketing and risk management. According to Yahoo, it’s funded with $125,000 from Bank of America, partnering with the Greater Augusta
Less than half of Britain’s Black business owners – 43 percent – trust banks to support their interests, a new survey has revealed. The report, entitled ‘Black British In Business and Proud’, highlights the issue of structural racism in terms of accessing capital, and its impact on Black business owners. The research, which was sponsored by Lloyds Bank and undertaken by Savanta, surveyed 808 participants from Black communities in Britain – 345 of whom were Black business owners. It revealed that Black business owners are 21% more likely to be self-financed than
