Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners is adding spatial LABS, a metaverse and blockchain-based tech incubator, to its growing list of crypto investments, according to a report from Billboard. Founded by 24-year-old entrepreneur Iddris Sandu, next year, sLABS will launch its first product, “LNQ,” a blockchain-enabled hardware platform that helps onboard young creators to the metaverse, according to widely shared reports. “Iddris has a conscious world view and a youth-centric vision that is innovative and refreshing to witness,” Jay-Z said in a statement. “We share similar parallels in how we imagine impacting
BITCON 2021‘s virtual event kicks off this Wednesday and the conference will feature some of the Black community’s tech icons – from cryptocurrency to cybersecurity. Arlan Hamilton, Judy Smith, Sherell Dorsey, Simon T.Bailey, and Kanika Tolver are among the list of speakers lined up to give away gems to those keen on trailblazing in the industry. A total of 3% of workers at the top 75 technology companies identified as Black and Black founders received just 3% of all US venture capital in 2020. BITCON hopes to change these numbers. The
Fiverr — an Israeli online freelancer platform —has awarded five Black start-up firms $24K through its Future Collective Fellowship Program to help expand their business. The business accelerator is a fellowship for Black entrepreneurs, and five businesses were selected for the program’s inaugural class, and each will receive $24,000. The program is also backed up by 1863 Ventures, a Black-led and D.C.-based nonprofit organization, and Maestra, a women of color-owned business strategy firm, according to Afrotech. “Fiverr’s purpose is to provide anyone, no matter their race, religion, background or beliefs, the opportunity
Klasha, a Lagos and San Francisco-based startup that provides multiple integrations and APIs to facilitate transactions, has raised $2.4 million in seed to scale. Jessica Anuna first founded Klasha in 2018. At the time, the company’s focus was to make it easier for African consumers to purchase products directly from global fashion retailers. Now it has several features and a new business model centered around helping Africans make payments and get the goods they want, regardless of their location, reported TechCrunch. Klasha Checkout also allows international merchants to collect payments from Africa in local currencies and it uses what
Emory University is ready to shake up the VC world with its first student-run venture capital fund focused on minority entrepreneurs. The Peachtree Minority Venture Fund (PMVF) was launched at The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. The fund, funded by the Goizueta Business School endowment, was made to support Black, LatinX, and Native American entrepreneurs. It currently has $1M in assets under management, and students are responsible for souring companies, conducting due diligence, and making investment recommendations to the Peachtree Investment Committee, reported
A study assessing the working conditions of Black workers during the pandemic has found that they preferred remote working compared to the office as they felt more valued and supported. Although working from home has its challenges from endless Zoom calls and juggling child care duties – for many Black workers in white-dominated jobs, getting out of the office has resulted in a vast improvement in their employee experience. According to a survey by the Future Forum, a research consortium created by software maker Slack Technologies. The survey of more than
The venture capitalist and American tech entrepreneur has spoken out on her journey into the industry and how she – and fellow founder Joey Womack – hope to level the playing field. Ms. Solomon, who acts as a managing partner of the investment firm ‘Collab Capital’, a fund that aims to close the funding gap for Black entrepreneurs, said: “The bruises were motivation, I didn’t want other people to have the same knocks that I had in my journey. “So, it was pretty clear to me what I needed to
Engineers have paved the way toward advances in all sciences. For example, it’s nearly impossible to imagine how we would have survived the Covid-19 lockdown without online delivery, Zoom, and of course, software’s influence on testing and vaccine distribution. But there is no doubt that the industry still has a long way to go for inclusivity both in the UK and the US. Black History Month is an annual celebration of the men, women, and essential events in the history of Black people. It takes place throughout October in the UK but in February
The Oakland Black Business Fund has been selected as the inaugural recipient of Michael Jordan and the Jordan Brand’s Community Grant. The initiative is part of the Jordan Brand’s ‘Black Community Commitment Grant Program.’ It will fund the Oakland Black Business Fund’s [OBBF’s] mission to build peer-to-peer relationships within Black business owners, technical assistance providers, and tech companies. According to PR News Wire, OBBF aims to offer a sustainable growth model for underserved and under-funded businesses coming out of the Bay Area. In a statement, OBBF Co-Founder Trevor Parham said: “OBBF has had
Ellington West is the CEO of Sonavi Labs, a company using a digital stethoscope with Bluetooth connectivity, called Feelix, to identify and diagnose respiratory disease from lung and body sounds. The recognition comes after she closed a seed round with over $3.5 million raised. It was supported by Sand Hill Angels of Silicon Valley, Gaingels, Nightingale Partners, Matt Hellauer of PTX Capital, and other angel investors. The company has also received two grants through the National Institutes of Health worth over $3 million combined. She then went on to win $100,000 in the Princeton Empower 2021 pitch competition. In addition, the company received
