Since its launch, AfroSaúde has helped 2,000 patients to find and book consultations with nearly 1,000 black professionals in Brazil, including medical practitioners, dentists, and therapists. Payment for the consultations is made through the AfroSaúde platform, which takes a commission. Igor Leo Rocha, a journalist, who suffers from folliculitis, a bacterial condition whereby hair grows back into the skin when it is cut, causing painful inflammation, launched the platform in 2019 with his partner Arthur Lima. Their reasons? Rocha told the FT that many doctors he saw prescribed “strong medication
Black Women Talk Tech, a worldwide collective of Black women tech founders, celebrates its longstanding relationship with Microsoft and continues collaboration with a host of new projects for 2022. BWTT seeks to identify, support, and encourage all women to build the next billion-dollar business. Its next event, Face of a Founder Summit, is set for Feb. 24, 2022. In the fifth year of the relationship, Microsoft has supported Black Women Talk Tech’s Roadmap to Billions Conference, which took place at the company’s New York City headquarters in 2018. In addition, Microsoft
A new program for Black Founders is set to launch next week to help tackle the lack of strong venture capital investments in Black founders in Ohio. JobsOhio will host the program in partnership with Eficionado LLC. It aims to create, enhance, and promote an action collaborative to make Ohio a destination for Black founders and Black VCs based on the four Cs to success: culture, colleges, corporations, and capital, says Terry Gore, senior director, financial services at JobsOhio. A new advisory council will also be announced at the event geared
Black Girls Breathing and BlackFem are among the dozens of Black-led startups receiving a new set of philanthropic grants from Goldman Sachs’ ‘One Million Black Women Initiative. Black Girls Breathing is focused on addressing systemic issues impacting Black women and girls’ access to health care by providing free and accessible mental health care resources. While BlackFem is set on transforming school-based learning so that girls of color have the skills, habits, and resources to build and sustain personal wealth. The news was revealed via a press release where Goldman Sachs’ ‘One Million
Rebundle, a hair-focused startup based in St. Louis creating and selling hair extensions made from plant-based materials, has announced that it has raised $1.4 million in a pre-seed round. The idea came from Ciara Imani May’s passion for living more sustainably, which she had been trying to do even before she launched the startup with co-founder Danielle Washington. Speaking to media, she explained that in 2019 she wanted to look for a solution to the itchiness on her scalp as well as the waste associated with hair extensions. Rebundle launched
Nashville-based Jumpstart Nova announced its first venture fund Wednesday, with $55 million to invest exclusively in Black founder-led health care companies, according to a news release. The funding round brought together nearly 100 investors — including Eli Lilly and Company, HCA Healthcare, Cardinal Health, Meharry Medical College, Vanderbilt University, American Hospital Association, and others. Though Jumpstart is based in Tennessee, the Nova fund will have roots in Los Angeles, as well. Jumpstart Nova partner and native Angeleno Kathryne Cooper is based in L.A. and is working alongside Jumpstart co-founder Marcus
The Open Source Afro Hair Library, set to launch on Juneteenth 2023, will be the gaming world’s first free database of 3D-modeled Black hairstyles. Last year, Oakland-based artist and UC Santa Cruz assistant professor A.M. Darke started recruiting Black artists for the Open Source Afro Hair Library after she began to get frustrated with the lack of effort some artists put into ensuring Black characters had realistic Black hair. For example, Monster Hunter World players didn’t see any Black hairstyles added to the game until the release of a paid expansion nearly two years
Yesterday, we learned that Kimberly Bryant, the founder of Black Girls Code, had been removed from leading the nonprofit. In fact, she allegedly learned that she had been pushed out of her company after she lost access to her computer and email account. In a statement, its board said it’s currently investigating allegations of “workplace impropriety,” but Bryant remains a staff member. Not many news outlets were covering the situation, and we came to this shocking revelation from a series of tweets that Bryant tweeted out herself. She wrote: “Press
Black Girls Code founder Kimberly Bryant has been removed from leading the nonprofit. In a statement, its board said it’s currently investigating allegations of “workplace impropriety,” but Bryant still remains a staff member. In a tweet published on Tuesday, the tech leader said: “Press release: so it’s 3 days before Christmas and you wake up to discover the organization YOU created and built from the ground up has been taken away by a rogue board with no notification.” Many have rushed to her support with some people asking how they
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
