Black-owned finance company Novae LLC has officially launched a new digital tool to help small businesses find grants and tax incentives to help them grow at a faster rate. What is Novae Grants? The new tool launched by Novae LLC, called Novae Grants, allows thousands of users to search through a database filled with finance assistance opportunities from both the private sector and the government. According to the Novae team, the grants in the database range from $500 to $5 million. They have specifically been designed to help underrepresented Black
Invesco QQQ’s startup pitch competition is back; this time, it’s even bigger than before. The competition has returned for its second year in partnership with MaC Venture Capital and Concrete Rose Capital. Invesco’s QQQ Legacy Startup Pitch Competition Invesco QQQ, an exchange-traded investment firm based near Chicago, first launched the Legacy Classic startup pitch competition last year. Initially, the competition was only open to Black founders from HBCUs. However, according to AfroTech, the 2023 competition is open to all Black-founded seed-stage companies with less than $3 million. Since the news was announced,
Black entrepreneur Luke Cooper is redefining the meaning of success. In a recent interview, the Baltimore entrepreneur opened up about his rollercoaster journey into the tech industry, which unexpectedly saw him generate tremendous success. Who is Luke Cooper? Luke Cooper, a partner at Preface Ventures and founder of Latimer, describes himself as an ‘intentional entrepreneur.’ Cooper has a proven track record of growing sales and closing multiple $50 million exists while supporting women and BIPOC founders.  The Baltimore entrepreneur is also a father of two with a deep passion for making the world a
A new Chicago Business Bulletin report has revealed that not enough has been done to support Black and Latinx startups. Compared to other top startup ecosystems, Chicago has higher share capital deals. Additionally, Chicago leads significant startup ecosystems in the share of venture capital funding garnered by underrepresented founders. Since 2019, 5.1% of Black and Latino-founded companies have participated in a venture capital deal, compared to 2.5% nationally. “This report is intended to raise awareness of the strategic movement underway in Chicago to drive greater, more equitable investment by and among VCs
Nigeria-based fintech startup, Anchor has received over $1M in investment to help expand its workforce and services. The startup fund program is backed by fund program, Y Combinator, and other venture capital firms, including Byld Ventures, Luno Expeditions, Niche Capital, Mountain Peak Capital, and angel investors such as the founder of SeamlessHR, Emmanuel Okeleji. Co-founded in 2021 by Segun Adeyemi, Olamide Sobowale, and Gbekeloluwa Olufotebi, the banking-as-a-service platform, allows consumers to embed accounts, cards, payments, lending, and other financial features to their products within minutes. “We’re now seeing a new development where businesses want to
Minneapolis-based e-commerce app, GoodCarts, has partnered with Shopify and Operation HOPE to help build Black-owned online businesses through the 1 Million Black Businesses (1MBB) initiative. Black-owned financial, educational platform, Operation HOPE, is a leading global provider of financial dignity education and economic empowerment programs for low-income or moderate-income youth. The organization founded by John Hope Bryant aims to create a whole new approach to community upliftment. Its 1MBB initiative, in partnership with Shopify, will help millions of Black businesses start, grow, and scale over the next decade to ensure the racial
Angeles Investors have announced the winners of this year’s Estrellas award. The line-up features a collection of the top 40 funders and venture capital firms investing in Hispanic and Latinx startups. This year’s cohort exemplifies leadership in investing in top startups and Hispanic and Latinx founders, among the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. economy. Â Â “It’s exciting to see the number of top funders and venture capital groups investing in Latino startups grow,” said Adele Cepeda, Angeles Investors Board Chair and Director at BMO Financial Corporation. “In 2020, we started
African-based agri-tech startup iProcure has closed a $10.2 million Series B funding round to further expand its services to Uganda and Tanzania. The funding round led by Investisseurs and Partenaires included participation from Novastar Ventures, British International Investment (BII), and Ceniarth. iProcure, founded in 2013 by Stefano Carcoforo and Nicole Galletta, has grown to become one of rural Africa’s most significant agricultural supply chain platforms. Not only has the platform revolutionized agriculture supply chains in Africa, but it has also helped connect manufacturers and distributors with local retailers. Additionally, iProcure
Tech startup ImIn has further closed $1 million in seed funding to expand its employee scheduling app. Black-led venture capital firm Collab Capital led the funding round. ImIn, founded by Chime Solutions exec Lauren Wilson, is a staffing software platform aimed at helping the call center industry. After seven years of working at her father’s high-volume call center business, Wilson came up with the idea to launch her app after identifying the missed opportunities both companies faced because of a familiar yet widely accepted industry challenge: absenteeism. According to a 2017 US Department
Venture capital firm, LatinxVC, has opened applications for the third cohort of LatinxVC fellows. The eight-week program prepares participants for a successful analyst, associate, and senior associate role at a venture capital firm. In addition, the program will equip Latinx candidates with the tools needed to succeed and break into the investment world. LatinxVC was founded in 2019 by Rami Reyes, Maria Salamanca, and six other Latinx professionals. It works to grow the number of Latinx professionals in venture capital by helping them develop their careers and network. Their eight-week program
