Looking back I was generally pretty good at school because to me it was a simple bargain. You go to this location every weekday, listen to someone older than you teach, then on your own time you optionally need to study the concept and apply them to tests. I was a straight-A student and it quickly became a point of pride for me and people who knew me. I was considered “smart”, but looking back I can see that I was mainly regurgitating facts and logic. Lucky for me, this
Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners is adding spatial LABS, a metaverse and blockchain-based tech incubator, to its growing list of crypto investments, according to a report from Billboard. Founded by 24-year-old entrepreneur Iddris Sandu, next year, sLABS will launch its first product, “LNQ,” a blockchain-enabled hardware platform that helps onboard young creators to the metaverse, according to widely shared reports. “Iddris has a conscious world view and a youth-centric vision that is innovative and refreshing to witness,” Jay-Z said in a statement. “We share similar parallels in how we imagine impacting
Emory University is ready to shake up the VC world with its first student-run venture capital fund focused on minority entrepreneurs. The Peachtree Minority Venture Fund (PMVF) was launched at The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. The fund, funded by the Goizueta Business School endowment, was made to support Black, LatinX, and Native American entrepreneurs. It currently has $1M in assets under management, and students are responsible for souring companies, conducting due diligence, and making investment recommendations to the Peachtree Investment Committee, reported
The Oakland Black Business Fund has been selected as the inaugural recipient of Michael Jordan and the Jordan Brand’s Community Grant. The initiative is part of the Jordan Brand’s ‘Black Community Commitment Grant Program.’ It will fund the Oakland Black Business Fund’s [OBBF’s] mission to build peer-to-peer relationships within Black business owners, technical assistance providers, and tech companies. According to PR News Wire, OBBF aims to offer a sustainable growth model for underserved and under-funded businesses coming out of the Bay Area. In a statement, OBBF Co-Founder Trevor Parham said: “OBBF has had
Ellington West is the CEO of Sonavi Labs, a company using a digital stethoscope with Bluetooth connectivity, called Feelix, to identify and diagnose respiratory disease from lung and body sounds. The recognition comes after she closed a seed round with over $3.5 million raised. It was supported by Sand Hill Angels of Silicon Valley, Gaingels, Nightingale Partners, Matt Hellauer of PTX Capital, and other angel investors. The company has also received two grants through the National Institutes of Health worth over $3 million combined. She then went on to win $100,000 in the Princeton Empower 2021 pitch competition. In addition, the company received
From attorney to tech history maker – Natalie King’s vision led to the first Black woman-owned electric vehicle recharging station. Dunamis Clean Energy Partners has a fast charger that can recharge a vehicle in 30 minutes. It also comes with a screen that allows operators to advertise to pick up an additional revenue stream. With the residential model, users can mount it to their garage wall and expect a full charge for their electronic vehicle in four-to-six hours. King’s journey to building Dunamis Charge began in 2007 when she and her ex-husband
The UK Black Business Show aims to bring together the best Black start-ups in the country through exhibitions, workshops, interactive panels, and seminars. It’s known to be Europe’s biggest Black-Owned Business show of the year with 4,000 annual attendees, and it’s retaking place on October 30th this year. We’ve broken down everything you need to know before the event What is it exactly? According to its website, this event will enable personal, professional, and corporate development through business exhibitions, deep-dive workshops, interactive panels, and seminars delivered by industry pioneers. To
Elizabeth L. Carter, Esq., LLC, a Black-owned securities law firm, has just launched a legal fund to support Black businesses that plan to raise capital through crowdfunding campaigns and other means. Ms. Carter, whose firm created the #BlackCapitalMatters Gift Legal Fund, is seeking corporate and individual contributions to the fund, which will help subsidize securities legal services for Black-owned businesses. It will also allow the firm to provide legal support at below-market-rate so that more Black-owned businesses can combat the disparities in investing that they often face. Black-owned entities, including businesses, nonprofits,
Facebook has announced a $100-million commitment to a program that supports small businesses owned by women and minorities by buying up their outstanding invoices. This means that small businesses, who otherwise could have had to go months without getting paid by their customers, will be able to pay off their staff or bills. The tech media giant’s ‘Invoice Fast Track program’ is its latest effort to build its relationship with small businesses, which use its social media platform for business and advertising. Although the program isn’t necessarily new because it
Issa Rae has joined forces with American Express and the U.S. Black Chambers Inc. to help push their joint mission to expand their ByBlack initiative by launching the “first national certification program exclusively for Black-ownership designation.” The free platform, which was designed as a directory for Black-owned businesses, will now offer Black business-owners the opportunity to easily obtain approved accreditation that their customers and other companies can trust when spending with them. “Black businesses are American businesses,” Rae said, adding, “I think it’s one thing to support them during a very specific time when
