Google for Startups is accepting applications for its Black Founders Funds in the US, Europe, Africa, and Brazil, and its Latino Founders Fund in the US. This year also marks the first time Google for Startups has opened the US funds to the public. In previous years, Google reportedly selected US businesses solely through referrals. Less than 0.5% of funding goes to Black-led startups, even though 77% of them are revenue-generating and create an average of 5.4 jobs each. First announced in June 2020, the Black Founders Fund was launched as
Tech powerhouse Google has shared how it is working towards racial equity to celebrate Black History month. From prioritizing product inclusion to partnering with Black businesses and highlighting Black history – Google has spent the past few years highlighting the culture and the work of Black innovators. Showcasing Black creators Last year, Google partnered with three non-profit organizations to launch the Image Equity Fellowship. The project supported 20 Black and brown artists through their artistic journeys. The tech giant helped them receive unrestricted funding, mentorship support, and workshops to help them
South Africa will become the latest country to join Google Cloud as the tech giant’s first cloud region on the continent. On October 5th, 2022, Google announced plans to follow in the footsteps of competitors by launching its premier African cloud region. Cloud regions in Africa This comes years after major cloud providers Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services established their South African cloud regions in 2019 and 2020, respectively. In addition, earlier this year, Oracle, another competing cloud service, set up its data center in Johannesburg, making Google the
Are companies sticking to their BLM promises? In the wake of George Floyd’s death, many organizations made public pledges to support the anti-racism movement and end systemic racism by committing to workplace diversity. However, how much progress has been made as we look back? Tech giants Google and IBM have decided to reverse the criteria that ensured a diverse range of students would be nominated for their doctoral fellowship programs. Initially, if a school nominated more than two students for Google’s fellowship, the third and fourth students should come from
Google has announced that 60 new startups would join their Black Founders Fund, specifically designed to help support Black founders in Africa. Since launching the program in 2021, Google has invested in 50 startups from nine African countries, creating over 500 jobs and raising over $87 million to help support underrepresented founders. The Black Founders Fund has invested $20 million in funding to help founders across the US, Europe, Africa, and Brazil. The latest cohort will receive up to $100,000 in capital, including access to the best of Google, people, products,
Recording Academy co-president, Valeisha Butterfield Jones, has moved on from her role to join Google’s diversity team, where previously worked as the global head of inclusion. Butterfield Jones has been a part of the Academy for over two years and played a vital role in the organization’s leadership team as a chief diversity officer. She oversaw and managed the business culture, membership, awards, and people. After working alongside Google’s inclusion team, Butterfield Jones is expected to re-join the tech giant in October as VP of partnerships on the diversity team, according
The Google for Startups Latino Founders Fund is a $5 million fund that provides promising U.S. Latinx-led startups non-equity cash awards to help fuel their businesses. Google announced the fund last year as part of its $15 million commitment to economic equity for Latinx people in the U.S. Across the country, 50 founders will each receive $100,000 in cash to help grow their business. They’ll also receive hands-on support from Google employees across the company, $100,000 in Google Cloud credits, and access to therapy to support founders emotionally and professionally.
Timnit Gebru, a widely respected leader in AI ethics research, is known for co-authoring a groundbreaking paper that showed facial recognition to be less accurate at identifying women and people of color, which means its use can end up discriminating against them. Gebru, who recently founded her own firm, an independent artificial intelligence research institute, was awarded $3.7 million in funding after she was fired by Google. And now she’s been cited as a case study by Harvard Business School’s research team in a new paper that details her experiences being ‘silenced’ by
A £3 million cash fund for black founder-led tech businesses has been announced by Google. The Black Founders Fund, running for its second year, will be awarded to innovative European tech startups run by black founders. Recipients will need to demonstrate how they’re using technology to solve everyday problems. In return, they will receive up to $100,000, plus $200,000 in credit to use towards Google’s cloud services and advertising support, and mentoring by industry experts. “The UK is one of the most start-up-friendly environments in the world. Yet, Black start-up founders
Google, working with historians from West Africa, has worked to digitize contemporary art, cultural and historic sites about Mali, and the digital library went live on Google Art & Culture (GAC) earlier this week, making these items available for exploration by the world. The library is available online and via Google and Apple stores apps. Launched in 2011 as a digital platform that collects the treasures, stories, and knowledge of over 2,000 cultural institutions from 80 countries, Google Arts & Culture has been documenting museums and heritage sites from across the world.
