Kaepernick starts legal defense fund for protesters; HBO Max Launch; Switzerland will resume prostitution but not sports; African gaming startup raises $2.5M.
A weekly newsletter for Black and Brown women highlighting venture capital in the tech ecosystem.
Hello Sunday,
I don’t have a lot of personal commentaries today so I’ll let MLK speak for me.
"There comes a time when silence is betrayal…….In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
-Martin Luther King Jr.
Nike is saying 'Don't Do It' in a message about racism in America.
Reebok, YouTube, Adidas, Bumble, Ben & Jerry’s….. and many more brands are also using social media to speak out against racism.
Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, Starz and other major Hollywood players are using their corporate social media accounts to take a stand and support the Black Lives Matter movement.
And to those brands that choose to remain silent, it is well past the time to speak up and out. The world is watching.
Defying Trump, Twitter doubles down on labeling tweets. Spotify lifted the 10k-song cap on users’ libraries. A "Remote Cheerer" app that delivers fan reactions in real-time. Audi fired a Formula E driver who got a ringer in for a virtual race. Tennis star Naomi Osaka passed Serena Williams as the highest-earning female athlete. A Minneapolis VC racially profiled young black founders in a work gym. Streaming service HBO Max has launched.
USA
Curu, a Denver, Colo.-based solution for lenders to find leads for loans, raised $3 million in seed funding.
Monday.com, a developer of project management software, has reached a $2.7 billion valuation.
Amazon is in advanced talks to buy Zoox, a robotaxi developer once valued north of $3 billion by venture capitalists.
Instagram will start sharing revenue with creators through ads in its long-form video offering, IGTV, and badges that viewers can purchase on Instagram Live.
Stork Club, a maternity care platform, raised $2.7 million in seed funding.
Tia, a New York-based women’s health startup, raised $24.3 million in Series A funding.
Siren, a maker of "smart socks" designed for early detection of diabetic ulcers, announced nearly $12 million in venture funding.
EUROPE
BlaBlaCar and Voi join forces for BlaBla Ride scooter service.
Klarna becomes Europe’s most valuable fintech firm with $5.5 billion valuation.
Salesforce Ventures launched a $125 million Europe Trailblazer Fund.
European Uber rival Bolt valued at $1.9 billion as it plans for post-coronavirus recovery.
Dutch retail tech platform, Otrium, has raised a €24 million Series B round to help clothing brands sell collections that would otherwise go unsold - an urgent problem for retailers around the world.
Starling Bank, the U.K.-based challenger bank founded by Anne Boden, has raised an additional £40 million in funding.
Copenhagen-based Podimo raises €15 million to develop a curated podcast platform that pays content creators.
Belvo, a Y Combinator-backed Catalan fintech, has raised $10 million to triple its team size. It has a business similar to the Visa-acquired Plaid, but with a Latin American twist.
Switzerland’s next phase of reopening includes sex work—but not sports.
AFRICA
Carry1st, an Africa-focused gaming startup, raised $2.5 million in seed funding led by CRE Venture Capital.
Ghanaian startup, mPharma has closed $17 million in a funding round.
Carlyle’s Africa Dealmakers to start a new firm, Alterra Capital.
South African insurtech startup Inclusivity Solutions raises $1.3 million funding.
MIT Solve, an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has invested $900K in the Kenyan health startup, Acess Afya.
MarketForce 360, a Kenyan field sales and distribution automation software has closed a $350,000 seed round.
Japanese VC, Kepple Africa Ventures has invested in more than 50 African tech startups.
Universal launches Def Jam Africa to sign Hip-Hop, Afrobeats & Trap artists across the continent.
INSIGHTS
Next Billion-Dollar Startups 2020
-Forbes/TrueBridge Capital Partners
Camels, not unicorns, are the new darlings of Silicon Valley
-Sam Westreich, PhD
Our Next Chapter: From Jane VC to January Ventures
-January Ventures
What I learned interviewing tech execs at scaling startups
-Suzan Bond
The Top 10 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When Approaching Investors
-Forbes
Women-led companies (in Africa) are not having a good 2020 so far in terms of funding
-Kay Ugwuede
Q1 2020 Interactive Global League Tables, the most active investors and lawyers in Europe at the start of this year.
-PitchBook
The status quo leaves minority founders fending for themselves
-Amy Lewin
FUNDING & COMPETITIONS
2020 Women Startup Challenge at Google. Apply by May 31, 2020.
Built By Girls Mentorship Program for Womxn and Non-Binary Students. Next cycle begins June 2, 2020.
BongoHive FinTech Challenge. Apply by June 10, 2020.
Submit your nominations for Fortune’s 2020 Change the World list. Deadline June 22, 2020.
Grant for the Web is a $100M fund to boost open, fair, and inclusive standards and innovation in Web Monetization. Apply by June 12, 2020.
UPCOMING (VIRTUAL) EVENTS
Female Founders Acceleration Program Virtual Demo Day - by Yazamiyot and Microsoft for Startups, May 31, 2020.
The Role of Hubs in the African Entrepreneurship and Innovation Ecosystem, June 2, 2020.
Bethnal Green Ventures: Autumn 2020 Programme Virtual Q&A, June 2, 2020.
SoGal Kampala x SHONA's webinar interviewing early stage investors in East Africa, June 4, 2020.
Women in Tech: Is it more complicated in Africa? June 4, 2020.
ON OUR RADAR
This Social-Media Mob Was Good. The online rage at Amy Cooper could prove to be a powerful deterrent.
Wearable tech can spot coronavirus symptoms before you even realize you’re sick.
These destinations will basically pay you to come visit during the pandemic.
Miss Your Office? Some Companies Are Building Virtual Replicas.
Concerts by the Carload: Live Nation Looks to Take Drive-In Shows Bigger This Summer.
JK Rowling has put her new children’s fairy tale online for free. Meet the Ickabog.
Thank you for reading and see you next week!
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