Black Women Talk Tech, a worldwide collective of Black women tech founders, is broadening its reach. The firm has formally announced the acquisition of Black Female Founders (#BFF) for an undisclosed amount. “This acquisition will help us reach and support more Black women on their entrepreneurial journeys,” Black Women Talk Tech co-founder Regina Gwynn tells EBONY. “We are so excited to connect with those who are new to Black Women Talk Tech and power their companies to billion-dollar growth,” she added. Esosa Ighodaro-Johnson, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Black Women Talk
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
The Black Female Duo That’s Taking Mentoring To Another Level: Black Girls In Tech Founders Tell-All
Black Girls In Tech is a European-based organization focused on supporting and uplifting young women from the Black community interested in getting a foot in the tech industry. It was launched by two women, Karen Emelu and Valerie Oyiki, who admit that growing up they were never exposed to a range of industries, and instead, they were encouraged to take on the “traditional” routes, such as medicine and law. The organization was launched during the pandemic at a time when the challenges experienced by Britons and those in Ireland, where
Alhaji M. Sow, an 18-year-old sophomore studying aeronautical science at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), was shot and killed during a confrontation with officers on December 3. Now his family is reportedly questioning the use of force on their son. Here’s a breakdown of what we know so far: Around 10 p.m. on Friday, December 3, Melbourne police reported officers were called to the campus after news of the sophomore brandishing a knife and allegedly assaulting students with it. Authorities report Florida tech campus security confronted Sow inside the Roberts Hall, where investigators say he refused
California’s civil rights regulator is investigating Google’s treatment of Black female workers following alleged incidents of harassment and discrimination, according to two people familiar with the matter.
CinetPay has secured $2.4 million in seed funding with venture capital funding from 4DX Ventures and unicorn Flutterwave. The startup, a payment gateway that allows e-merchants and merchants to accept mobile money and other payments in Francophone Africa, was founded by Idriss Monthe and Daniel Dindji in 2016. It acts as an online and point-of-sale payment solution for merchants to process payment from more than 130 payment operators — mobile money, bank cards, wallets. On the platform, merchants have to open an account and upload their KYC, integrate Cinet’s APIs, and collect payments. It came
TechRise, a program from tech organization P33 that’s been hosting a weekly pitch competition this year for Chicago’s Black and Latino entrepreneurs, will return next year after a successful 2021 run. The program was launched with a $ 5 million fund to invest in startups owned by diverse entrepreneurs up and down the city in April. TechRise aims to channel more funds to minority-owned startups, which receive just 1.9% of all startup funding in Chicago, according to P33. In addition, corporate sponsors like Verizon, Discover, and Valor Equity Partners have
Detroit-based StockX has appointed Robin Washington as its new audit committee chair; the company shared in a press release. Washington, a greater Detroit native, joins StockX’s board with a wealth of experience advising tech and life science companies. In her new role, she’ll advise its leaders as StockX plans for international expansion and diversifying its catalog. She served as executive vice president and CFO at Gilead Sciences for almost 12 years, where she oversaw the global finance, facilities and operations, investor relations, and IT organizations. Washington also currently serves on the boards of Alphabet
Black Enterprise — one of the US’ leading Black digital media brands, with more than 8 million monthly unique visitors—will present its inaugural Sisters Inc. Summit on December 7. The event will feature some of the most influential and dynamic business owners. They will feature in a candid conversation with each other—and the corporations and investors who support them. Whether you consider yourself a founder, a CEO, a boss, or a side-hustler, SistersInc. is said to represent “a unique and valuable opportunity to connect to a powerful sisterhood of success to share resources,
Angela Muhwezi-Hall and Deborah Gladney’s dating app style platform matching job seekers with employers have raised $1.41 million. According to Project Diane, the pair, who launched the QuickHire app last fall, became the first Black women in Kansas to raise at least a million dollars in capital, which tracks minority women-led startups. Its users are encouraged to upload intro videos to demonstrate their soft skills. Muhwezi-Hall told Kansas news that almost 70 paying companies and 12,000 job-seekers already use the app. Users enter their ZIP code and are instantly shown
