Founder and CEO Chandler Malone’s tech startup ‘Bootup’ has reportedly raised $2.1 million in seed-round from all Black investors. The product was first launched in July 2021 during what was considered the pandemic’s peak where dozens of countries were thrown into lockdown. Bootup, which focuses on sourcing and hiring non-traditionally trained talent for a range of companies, is said to have grown rapidly, increasing revenue 100% month over month from July through November to a seven-figure run rate, while developing relationships with over 80 employers and 125 tech training programs, according
Investors will be with you for a long time – and ending the relationship can be harder than getting a divorce, says June Angelides, a business owner, venture capitalist, and columnist. Before we discuss the business tips she’s shared in her most recent FT column. Here’s a breakdown of who she is for those of you who don’t know. Angelides was raised in Lagos, Nigeria where she had an early introduction to entrepreneurship through her family. Her uncle Ben Murray Bruce founded Silverbird, the first cinema in Nigeria. She recalled in an interview
British entrepreneur and YouTube star Jamal Edwards has died at the age of 31, his company has told the BBC, but his cause of death has not yet been revealed. He was the founder of SBTV, an online urban music platform that helped launch the careers of artists like Dave, Ed Sheeran, and Skepta. His YouTube channel, which was started in 2006 “on a £20 phone” while he was still at school, has given early exposure to almost every key player in the game including the much-loved Stormzy, Skepta, JME,
Skilled, the world’s largest virtual career center is excited to announce a formal partnership with the Blacks In Technology (BIT) Foundation, the largest community of people of African descent in the technology industry. The collaboration is to provide the Black community with unlimited access to career services which include resume reviews. It will also include 1:1 coaching/mentoring, mock technical interviews, and career counseling with a global community of elite technologists. Blacks In Technology and Skilled aim to continue BIT’s mission to “stop the divide” by establishing a blueprint of innovation and resources meant
Karin Fuentesová started off her career in the accounting sector, where she worked for 13 years. While working there, she observed how much time is wasted by people doing mundane tasks, such as manual data entry of invoices into accounting systems. After taking notes, Fuentesová launched Digitoo, which automates manual bookkeeping processes. Founded in 2019, the founder struggled to find investors but in 2021, it raised €900k in seed funding from Czech investors Kaya VC and Nation 1. For Fuentesová this was a huge success because only 46% of founders raise more than
Maci Peterson – who has sent her share of accidental text messages — tried to put end to the embarrassing-text-epidemic with the long-adored app she launched when she was just 28-years-old. Peterson launched On Second Thought back in December 2014 as a texting app that allows users to “take back” a text up to 60 seconds after it was sent before it reaches the receiver. It grew with 42,000 users. Called “The Texting Savior” by AT&T, On Second Thought was reportedly a patented, mobile delay/recall technology that lets users take back
There are many ways to celebrate Black History Month, and while it’s important to look back at our history from Martin Luther King to those that paved the way in regards to racial justice – it’s equally important to celebrate Black joy and Black excellence in other areas too. One area where the community is really making moves in tech. It’s no secret that diversity is a challenge in the tech world, with the industry lagging behind the rest of the economy on almost every diversity metric, but it’s important
Tulsa educators are eligible for an exclusive teaching fellowship program run by Black Tech Street and Hewlett-Packard to give teachers the tools to reinvent their classrooms. Black Tech Street is specifically asking teachers of color to apply for this program. It says this unique fellowship will allow teachers to experiment with new tech tools in their classrooms and build community with other Tulsa educators, according to Newson6. The fellowship called HP Teaching Fellowship is offering 25 teachers tools for free in Tulsa Public Schools. “We want to ensure that our Black
Black and LGBTQ+ travelers are leading the charge to build inclusive technologies that help their communities travel safely. One such digital program is the Green Book Project, which offers city guides from the perspective of Black travelers. It’s an app from software engineer Christian Lowe created that allows travelers to determine how inclusive a business is through a unique search system based on how users identify themselves, indicated by a hashtag they place on their reviews. For example, a queer vegan traveler could filter a restaurant’s reviews for insight into how
The British Consulate-General in New York has announced the participants in the upcoming UK Black Tech Founders Mission taking place next month in New York City. Twelve unique technology firms, set up by Black entrepreneurs in the UK, will participate in the delegation. The UK founders will also meet with their US counterparts to discuss the differences between scaling a business on each side of the Atlantic and the lived Black entrepreneur experience in the UK & the US. The UK’s flag carrier, British Airways, has partnered with the British Consulate-General in New York to
