Black wealth matters; Imposter Syndrome; Brown Skin Girls Unite-#SULWE
A weekly newsletter for Black and Brown women highlighting entrepreneurship and venture capital in the tech ecosystem.
Hello Everyone,
Greetings from Chamrousse! It’s the winter holiday for schools in France so we headed to the Mountains for our annual family ski trip. The ski lifts have not reopened since last March, so our days will be filled with cross-country skiing, ski hiking, and of course sleigh rides for the kids. Today the sky is blue and sunny, and the world seems normal again, at least in our little cocoon. Enjoy your weekend!
Airbnb will build a new tech hub in Atlanta. Clubhouse has 8 million global downloads. Nestlé to sell bottle water brands to PE for $4.3 billion. NASA's Perseverance rover landed on Mars. Naomi Osaka wins Australian Open for fourth Grand Slam title!
INSIGHTS
Black And Female Founders Land 30% Of The Largest US Early Stage Rounds In 2021
-Joanna Glasner / Crunchbase
Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome
-Ruchika Tulshyan and Jodi-Ann Burey / Harvard Business Review
Here's a Formula That Explains Where We Need to Invest in Climate Innovation
-Bill Gates
Why Tech Degrees Are Not Putting More Blacks and Hispanics Into Tech Jobs
-Quoctrung Bui and Claire Cain Miller / NY Times
The SPAC Bubble Is About to Burst
-Ivana Naumovska / Harvard Business Review
OPPORTUNITIES, FUNDING & COMPETITIONS
Open Nominations: Forbes Next 1000. A celebration of the ambitious sole proprietors, self-funded shops, and pre-revenue startups who are redefining what it means to build and run a business today, especially in the “new normal.”
Target Takeoff Pets 2021. Part Accelerator, Part Bootcamp. A 5-week program for disruptive pet care brands. Apply by February 22, 2021.
Women Techsters 2021 Fellowship Program is open to girls and women from ages 16-40 in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Egypt. Apply by February 27, 2021.
Norrsken’s Impact Accelerator targeting early-stage startups that leverage technology to create and scale innovative solutions to new and old societal and environmental challenges. Deadline February 28, 2021.
Ideas for Impact, a call for ideas using social impact investment to address a social issue in the UK. Apply by March 1, 2021.
UPCOMING (VIRTUAL) EVENTS
Bonfire Ventures Firestarters Series: A Fireside Chat on Fundraising as a Woman. February 24, 2021.
Techstars Let’s get real: We can support Black Entrepreneurs by partnering with Black-led community organizations. February 25, 2021.
The Black Tech Master Series seeks to inspire, engage, and elevate Black undergraduates and early entrepreneurs through interactive workshops, panel discussions, and networking opportunities. February 28, 2021
How can the world of startups and investing become inclusive & diverse? March 9, 2021.
Investing in Women in Fintech, March 9, 2021.
Shatter Summit, a virtual conference with women leaders from Tech, Venture, Sports, and Business to talk about the importance of investing in women across all industries. March 10, 2021.
Elevating Latinas in VC, March 11, 2021.
ON OUR RADAR
Glassdoor now lets you filter company ratings by demographics.
Carlyle Inks $4.1 Billion Credit Line Linked to Board Diversity.
Christie's first digital art auction leans on blockchain and other buzzwords.
PEOPLE / ANNOUNCEMENTS
Google launched an initiative to provide 100,000 Black women with career development and digital skills training by 2022.
NBA star Russell Westbrook led a $63 million funding round for online-only Varo Bank.
Mona Sutphen will join the Spotify Board of Directors.
Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, the founder of Promise, an Oakland-based fintech, raised a $20 million Series A round.
Marian Croak named head of responsible AI research. She takes over following the ouster of researcher Timnit Gebru.
Li Jin, former partner at Andreessen Horowitz, has a new $13 million seed fund, Atelier Ventures.
Uncovered Fund, a Japanese VC firm, will back early-stage startups in Africa via its newly-launched $15 million fund.
A heartfelt thank you for reading and see you next week!
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