Y Combinator’s latest batch — W22 — features 414 startups from 42 countries, representing more than 80 sectors. America reportedly has the most representation while India comes in second with 32 startups and Nigeria sits in third, having delivered 18 startups. This is the first time an African country is appearing in the top three. The W22 batch of the Y Combinator programme, which played a role in the early days of companies like Airbnb, Coinbase and Dropbox among others, is currently taking place, and concludes with a demo day end of
Another Black worker is reportedly suing tech giant Tesla, claiming white workers tormented him with ringtones set to sound like incoming-rocket warnings, as well as race-based abuses. According to Mercury News – Marcellous Cage alleged in his lawsuit against Tesla that the company fired him because he reported life-threatening safety violations in the plant. “Mr. Cage was fired for two reasons: his commitment to safety and his race,” the lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court claimed, the paper reported. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on
Goodwin has just announced its latest partnership with Meta on a new IP/Tech Scholarship Program for students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) planning to pursue a career in intellectual property or technology law. The new program provides $20,000 scholarships to graduating seniors from historically excluded groups who are currently attending HBCUs and will be starting law school in fall 2022. Awardees will spend one week this summer at a Goodwin office, shadowing firm lawyers to learn more about the firm and its practice areas. Each awardee will be
Level Ex is hiring on pocitjobs.com Todday Gaither has been working at Level Ex for 5 years—first as a Quality Assurance Tester and now as an Assistant Production Manager. The company focuses on creating video games for doctors that capture the challenges of practicing medicine: from puzzling diagnoses to rare surgical complications. Todday thanks his grandmother for pushing him to move to Chicago to pursue a career in technology. In this article, he tells us how he got into tech as an eager child who spent most of his time
What are the best Slack communities for Black tech professionals? With so many out there, it’s hard to decide which ones are right for you. So We’ve compiled a list that you should check out. Below is a list of 17 thriving hubs of discussion, collaboration, and innovation spanning virtually all technical specialisms. As a tech journalist getting involved in these Slack communities has helped me learn a lot in a short space of time. Cleveland Tech The Slack community for North East Ohio’s diverse tech community. Developers, designers and tech people of
Uganda is one of the countries creating ripples in high-profile tech programs like the Y Combinator accelerator and Google’s $50 million Africa Investment Fund, launched in October last year targeting early and growth-stage startups. The growth of Uganda-based startups comes at a time when the startup ecosystem in Africa has until now been dominated by Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Egypt – countries that continue to receive the bulk of venture capital and other forms of investment. In December 2021, SafeBoda, Uganda’s multi-service and digital payment technology platform, became the
This partnership, between Tetra Tech and the National Society Of Black Engineers (NSBE), is part of a commitment to widening the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) pipeline for Black engineers and scientists by driving recruitment and engagement with collegiate and professional NSBE members. Tetra Tech’s BELIEVE Employee Resource Group (ERG) is leading the partnership with NSBE. BELIEVE stands for Black Employees Leading in Innovation, Enthusiasm, Vision, and Excellence and was Tetra Tech’s first chartered ERG. The BELIEVE ERG also provides a forum for Black employees and allies from around the world to engage
Throughout history, engineering was almost entirely the domain of white men, for example, it was in 1892 that The Massachusetts Institute of Technology had its first African-American graduate, Robert R. Taylor. It was only 25 years later, in 1917, that the university gave its first civil engineering diploma to an African-American. Although we’re in 2022 – the pictures are still relatively similar – white men still dominate the industry. The UK has one of the most male-dominated engineering sectors, Male academic scientists outnumber their female counterparts by two to one
Usman Dalhatu, a 20-year-old mechanical engineer student at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria, invented and built a local ventilator. At the time of building the invention – his country – Nigeria reportedly had just 500 ventilators across its 36 states. In partnership with other Nigerian innovators, Dalhatu, 20, built a local ventilator, which he later transformed into a portable ultra-modern E-vent automatic ventilator. Dalhatu named the equipment RESPIRE-19. He collaborated with Dr. Yunusa Muhammad Garba of the Human Anatomy Department, Gombe State University and Aliyu Hassan, a graduate of Mechatronics Engineering.
Paylend, a Kenyan fintech startup focused on providing access to finance and digitizing MSMEs in Kenya, announced it has raised $2 million seed investment. The funding came from Next Chymia Consulting HK Limited, an Asian-based company that provides global entities with blockchain applications, consultancy services, and training. Paylend’s mission is to support MSMEs across Africa to solve access to continuous capital while bridging the consumer data gap by connecting consumers to products and services. Paylend’s model enables consumer data collection that allows for a thorough understanding of consumer needs and
