85 million funding round for Black female founder; From Microaggressions To Mansplaining; Africa Investment Report 2020; VCFamilia - What is Latinx?
A weekly newsletter for Black and Brown women highlighting entrepreneurship and venture capital in the tech ecosystem.
Happy New Year Everyone,
A huge Thank You and Welcome to all of our new subscribers! We’re only two weeks into the new year and it seems as if 2021 will be just as tumultuous as 2020. Having said that, this Wednesday, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated. You can stream the inauguration on YouTube or Twitch.tv. As a precaution against violence, Facebook is blocking the creation of events happening near the White House, the U.S. Capitol or any state capitol building through Inauguration Day.
Tomorrow is the Martin Luther King Day of Service-Here are 9 ways to honor his legacy!
Dropbox lays off 315 people. Bumble has filed to go public. Google completes Fitbit acquisition. Visa ends $5.3 billion Plaid deal.
INSIGHTS
Smart VCs Recognize That Black Female Founders May Lead The Next Unicorns
-Geri Stengel / Forbes
Africa Investment Report 2020
-Briter Bridges
2020 Market Review of Woman and Minority-Owned Private Equity and Venture Capital Firms
-Fairview Capital
From Microaggressions To Mansplaining: Busting Biases In Venture Capital
-Deena Shakir / Forbes
Report: The State of the French Tech Ecosystem in 2020
-Alexandre Dewez /Idinvest Partners
Closing the female health gap
-Clara Ricard / Balderton
Top Questions VCs Ask Founders in Pitch Meetings
-RLC Ventures
Fintech and solar startups kept funding up in Africa’s ecosystem in 2020 despite the pandemic
-Abubakar Idris / Quartz Africa
The landscape of female-led digital deep tech startups and scaleups in the EU
-EIT Digital Accelerator
OPPORTUNITIES, FUNDING & COMPETITIONS
AWS Africa Startup Connect - This program is designed to support Women Founded or Led startups in Africa. Appy by January 18, 2021.
2021 Future VC Programme, an 8-week internship and development programme. Apply by January 22, 2020.
VamosVentures 2021 Scout Program. Apply to be a scount by January 22, 2021.
Microsoft AI for Social Impact 2021. The 4-month program will support your organisation in commercial, social impact, technical and profile and exposure.Deadline January 24, 2021.
United Nations World Food Programme Innovation Accelerator. Receive up to $100,000 in equity-free funding and mentorship from industry experts. Apply by January 24, 2021.
The Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator, Powered by gener8tor invests in high-growth startups founded by Black entrepreneurs. Deadline is January 25, 2021.
Outlier Ventures Base Camp will provide financing and launch pad for pre-seed projects anywhere in the world, involving $50,000 immediate funding for 6% equity and tokens and up to $200,000 total funding available per team. Apply before February 28, 2021.
UPCOMING (VIRTUAL) EVENTS
BrandCampU Summit: Rebrand Black [Culture. Business. Tech.] sponsored by Cadillac. January 18-19, 2021.
SPAC 101 presented by All Raise. Experts will cover the mechanics of a SPAC investment vehicle, run through examples, and also share data points on performance post-SPAC. January 21, 2021.
VCFamilia - What is Latinx? Latinx, Latin@, Latine, Hispanic, Spanish. What does this all mean and how does it affect tech and VC? January 26, 2021
The Capital Network and the Venture Capital Inclusion Lab will host "Investment & Inclusion Series: Amplifying Funders Of Color." January 26, 2021.
Emerging Managers: Navigating different Fund Structures, January 26, 2021
Normalizing Black Multi-Million Dollar Founders, sponsored by UBS. January 28, 2021.
ON OUR RADAR
Apple Considers Foldable iPhone.
UK abolishes 'tampon tax' on menstrual products.
Talkspace Near a Deal to Go Public Via Doug Braunstein’s SPAC.
The State of Black Funding-A list of venture backed Black founders created by James Norman and Yonas Beshwared.
PEOPLE / ANNOUNCEMENTS
Sara Menker, founder and CEO of Gro Intelligence, raised an $85 million Series B funding round.
Deval Patrick is joining Twilio's board of directors.
Glassdoor: Best Tech Companies to work for in 2021.
Roy Austin was hired by Facebook to become its first-ever VP of Civil Rights and Deputy General Counsel to create a new civil rights organization within the company.
Denise Woodard raised a $4.8 million Series A round for her allergy-friendly cookie brand Partake.
The Choiseul 100 Africa 2020. A list of young African leaders under 40 who will play a major role in the continent’s economic development in the near future.
Canada Goose Nominates Michael D. Armstrong to Board of Directors.
A heartfelt thank you for reading and see you next week!
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