Entrepreneurs Daa’iyah Fogle, a Claflin University alumnus, and Malcolm Lee, a graduate of Virginia Union University, are the winners of the NBA Foundation’s first-ever pitch competition in partnership with Black Girl Ventures. The joint competition, held in Cleveland, allowed college-aged entrepreneurs from HBCUs across the US to participate and pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges. The entrepreneurs eligible to participate in the competition were all Black Girl Ventures’ NextGen Program members. The scheme was created to support the next generation of Black and brown business leaders attending
Black entrepreneurs saw a dramatic decrease in funding this year as investors continue to pull back. So far, new Crunchbase data shows Black startups received $324 million in VC funds in the second quarter, a steep decrease from the $1.2 billion received in Q1 this year and substantially below the $866 million the founder cohort raised in Q2 last year. Overall, Black founders have received more than $1.5 billion in capital this year, compared to the over $2 billion received last year. Funding at all levels is tracking below 2021.
The Black Founders Matter venture fund recently announced the introduction of the 25 by 25 Pledge, which encourages venture capitalists to commit to investing a quarter of their funds into BIPOC women founders by the year 2025. The pledge also requires VC firms to have 25% of their staff be BIPOC women, believing the increase in diversity behind the scenes will help pivot more deal flow into marginalized communities. Campaigners have been demanding greater diversity in tech for years and Crunchbase data published earlier this year revealed BIPOC women are
Justin Samuels, the CEO of Render Atlanta and qualified engineer, is on a mission to build on that influence by making Atlanta a true power player in the world of technology, essentially blending software engineering with culture. What does his company Render Atlanta do? It’s a software engineering experience; where tech meets culture, inclusion, and accessibility. RenderATL is a four-day software engineering conference & music festival featuring your next career opportunity with 50+ expert speakers in tech covering upcoming and current best software engineering practices, web3, engineering leadership, accessibility practices, and more.
FoodLama has just announced it has been selected for Google’s second-ever Black Founders Fund cohort. But how does the startup work? FoodLama is a free-to-install-and-use browser extension that makes online grocery shopping with preferences simple. By taking into account your household’s individual allergies, preferences, and needs, FoodLama provides a personalized shopping experience as you scroll through your favorite grocer. So, you see the products to avoid as you shop and easily discover the best alternative recommendations. Following its launch in 2021, Google’s Black Founders Fund will provide its 2022 cohort
The nation’s largest beauty retailer, Ulta Beauty, is now accepting applications for its MUSE Accelerator, an inaugural program dedicated to supporting early-stage BIPOC beauty brands to launch and thrive in retail. Officially starting in September, eight successful applicants will receive $50,000 in financial support to propel brand development in addition to resources designed to prepare each for retail readiness and long-term success. This will include opportunities to learn from experts across various industries such as merchandising, supply chain, legal, and marketing, as well as brand founders and industry leaders’ engagement
Balancing entrepreneurship and childcare can be a daunting task, made worse by the pandemic. The rising costs of childcare in the UK and the USA are forcing an increasing number of primary caregivers – the majority of whom are women – to juggle both business and caring for their children. Thousands of childcare centers that closed temporarily because of lockdowns are still at risk of shutting permanently. These centers tend to be low-margin businesses with low levels of cash reserves and may not be able to reopen due to the additional expenses
International calling app Talk360, which enables people to make reliable and affordable calls to any landline or mobile phone worldwide, has secured $4 million in funding as it prepares to launch a new pan-African payment platform in mid-2022. The seed round of funding was led by leading African venture capital investor HAVAÍC, 4Di Capital, and several prominent fintech angel investors. Talk360, a leading Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) player in Africa, enables people to make international calls through its app for a fee. It is built so that only the
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, this week announced the news that it is linking up with the Canadian performer, The Weeknd, for his After Hours Til Dawn Tour to provide “an enhanced fan experience.” The so-called ‘experience will reportedly manifest in a number of ways, including via a collaboration with The Weeknd’s creative incubator HXOUSE to produce an exclusive NFT collection and co-branded branded merch. “Binance is all about the community, about people, about inclusion. I was impressed by their focus on users and innovative edge,” said The Weeknd. “It made perfect
Religion of Sports, the media production company founded by Gotham Chopra, Michael Strahan and Tom Brady, has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round led by Shamrock Capital and joined by Elysian Park Ventures and Cerro Capital. The Series B funding round brings the company’s total to $66 million raised over three rounds. Chopra told The Hollywood Reporter that the raise will be used to help “grow the company from the production company model, which is what we have operated in for a long time, to really controlling our own destiny. To really bet
