Zindi is the first data science competition platform in Africa. It hosts an entire data science ecosystem of scientists, engineers, academics, companies, NGOs, governments, and institutions to solve Africa’s most pressing problems. The company recently raised a $1 million seed round, led by San-Francisco-based VC firm Shakti, with Launch Africa, Founders Factory Africa, and five35. How does the startup work? The firm announces challenges and invites its community of data scientists to take part in solution-finding competitions. Participating data scientists submit their solutions, and the winner gets a cash prize. The competition was
The ‘I Heart My HBCU’ app, which uses technology to make donations to Historically Black Colleges and Universities easy, has partnered with the Xavier University of Louisiana for a two-year collaboration. During the two-year partnership, Xavier and I Heart My HBCU jointly aim to have 10,000 people join the XULA donor community. For every new donor sign-up, I Heart My HBCU will donate an additional $1, up to $10,000. When first launched in 2017 by Dominique King – it became the first platform where users could donate spare change to any of
Black Ops Ventures, a Black-owned VC fund, has announced that it has closed its first fund with investments totaling $13 million. In securing investments for this initial close, Black Ops relied upon long-standing relationships with some of the most respected names in the tech industry. From successful founders including Drew Houston, Jacob Gibson, and Morgan DeBaun to top-tier venture investors, including Ben Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, and Jeff Bussgang, the Black Ops partners galvanized their network of investors and founders to support their unique strategy. Bank of America and Northwestern Mutual led the fundraising round. Founded in 2020, Black Ops
Netflix said it has fulfilled its pledge to the Black community by moving two percent of its cash holdings – around $100m – into Black-led banks and financial institutions in the US. The funding has been shared between six institutions, including $10m deposited with Hope Credit Union in the form of a transformational deposit to fuel economic opportunity in underserved communities in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The move comes after it announced back in June 2020, amid racial-equality protests across America, that it would invest capital in Black banks to
Virtual trucking carrier CloudTrucks has secured a $115 million Series B funding round on a reported $850 million valuation, according to Forbes. The firm, which provides a tech platform that helps small trucking businesses manage their administrative duties, including scheduling, instant payments, expense tracking, was founded by Tobenna Arodiogbu, Jin Shieh, and George Ezenna back in 2019. Tiger Global led its Series B round with Menlo Ventures, Flexport, Michael Ovitz, and Opendoor CEO Eric Wu. The round also includes follow-on investments from Caffeinated Capital, Craft Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Abstract, BTV, and Kindred Ventures. This Series B comes
Gozem, a super app that provides a host of services — including transport, e-commerce, and financial services in Francophone Africa — has raised $5 million in Series A financing. The firm is present across 13 cities, having moved to Gabon and Cameroon with over 800,000 registered users and more than 5 million trips completed. The company, which is based in Togo and Singapore, raised funds from AAIC, Thunes (TransferTo), Momentum Ventures (SMRT), Innoport Ventures (Schulte Group), CMC Ventures (National Express), and Liil Ventures (Mobility ADO). Costamagna, in a statement, said
Greenwood, a mobile banking platform described as doing it for the culture, seeks to support the Black and brown community in their endeavors to generational wealth. Co-founded by former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, rapper-activist Michael “Killer Mike” Render, and Bounce TV founder Ryan Glover, Greenwood is not a bank itself; instead, it features banking services provided by Coastal Community Bank and will eventually provide financial management services. It reinvests in Black and Latino communities through monthly grants and recently launched a podcast group that specializes in financial literacy and investment
The climate of today means if you want to reach a widespread audience you need to utilize social media. One key tool for founders and those looking for new tech opportunities is Linkedin – it’s the place to go for job offers, meeting potential investors, building your company and personal brand, and networking. With more than 774 million members and its focus on business, LinkedIn offers a valuable opportunity for industry professionals to support their businesses marketing goals. From my experience, it seems to be the best place for building connections with
A Black-owned music NFT platform, powered by Trapchain, Inc, has collaborated with indie music artist and native Chicagoan Willie Taylor, to drop his first NFT for his music project, “Write My Wrongs.” Taylor first gained notoriety as a contestant from MTV’s “Making the Band 4”, where Sean Combs chose him (P-Diddy) to be a member and one of the main vocalists for the band Day26 on August 26. 360NFT’s launch and debut NFT release commemorate the band’s popularity and success. Its streamlined ecosystem reportedly makes it easy for users to thrive on the blockchain without
It was announced back in August that gBeta Medtech was on a mission to find Black founders for its end-of-year accelerator, and well – they found them and they’re pretty incredible. Five healthcare startups were chosen from more than 85 applicants for the 2021 Cohort, the first gBETA Medtech program specifically for Black founders. Each startup is receiving $34,000 in funding and “intensive, individualized coaching and access to gener8tor’s national network of mentors, customers, corporate partners, and investors.” Here’s a list of the startups chosen: bTECH’s Launched by Wendy Slone, bTECH’s
