Top VCs host Office Hours for Black founders; New Black Corporate Board Members; Diverse skin tone band-aids; 'Hey Siri, I'm getting pulled over'
A weekly newsletter for Black and Brown women highlighting entrepreneurship and venture capital in the tech ecosystem.
Happy Fête de la Musique (World Music Day) and Happy Father’s Day!
In April, I started For Colored Girls Who Tech as a way of sharing pertinent news, insights, funding opportunities, and events with women of color around the world. In less than two months, I have seen the subscription numbers exceed all of my expectations! Women of color (and allies) are signing up en masse and I thank you all for taking the time to read the newsletter every week, and for sharing it with others! Lastly, I’m thrilled to announce that we are making headway into the “women in tech” community and we are now included in the 500 Startups resources for female founders.
Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben and Mrs. Butterworth are out of work. GitHub will remove the term “master” on its service. Businesses can now buy Spot, the Robotic ‘Dog’ from Boston Dynamics. Netflix CEO gives $120 million to the United Negro College Fund, Spelman College, and Morehouse College. The Oscars will impose a diversity and inclusion requirement in 2022.
USA
DoorDash has now raised an additional $400 million, pushing its valuation to $16 billion.
Melinda Gates and MacKenzie Bezos unveil $30 million gender equality initiative.
Plume, a personalized telehealth service for the trans-community, raised $2.9 million in funding.
Facebook removes Trump ads for using Nazi imagery.
Google lays out a spate of changes designed to diversify its management, its products, and startups.
Apple doubles down on controversial decision to reject email app Hey.
WhatsApp has launched its 'WhatsApp Pay' in Brazil.
EUROPE
Helsinki-based Swappie raises $40 million Series B to expand refurbished iPhone marketplace across Europe.
Wingly, a French flight-sharing platform, raised €3million. It's hoping to do for private flights what BlaBlaCar did for carpooling.
UK challenger bank Monzo raises €66.8 million bridge funding round; confirms 40% valuation drop.
The UK Government abandoned its homemade contact tracing app in favor of Google and Apple’s system.
France's top court rejects core of law targeting online hate speech.
AFRICA
Chipper Cash, an African cross-border fintech startup raised a $13.8 million Series A.
Google for Startups Accelerator Africa selected 20 African tech startups for the fifth cohort.
YouTube rolls out its music and subscription-based video streaming platforms in Egypt.
Kenyan startup Raise launches end-to-end fundraising platform for African startups.
Egyptian edtech company Zendy has launched an Arabic learning platform following a $1.2 million pre-seed investment.
Planet 42, a South African-based Fintech startup, raised $2.4 million in funding.
Chefaa, an Egyptian e-health delivery startup has closed an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A funding in a round led by 500 Startups and other investors.
INSIGHTS
Why venture capital doesn’t build the things we really need.
-Elizabeth MacBride/ MIT Technology Review
The VC Firms Backing Black Founders (List).
-People of Color in Tech
Tech is writing checks to anti-racism groups. Here's who's giving, and how much.
-Protocol
For Black CEOs in Silicon Valley, Humiliation Is a Part of Doing Business.
-Bloomberg
Meet the European VC firms funding overlooked founders.
-EU Startups
Array VC allocates $1 million For Underrepresented Enterprise Founders.
-Shruti Gandhi / Array Ventures
FUNDING & COMPETITIONS
Included VC-Virtual Retreat for aspiring VCs and Black Founders to learn from Europe’s best investors.
Apply to the SheWorx Crowd Investing Challenge.
Apply to BGV’s flagship ‘Tech for Good Programme.’ They offer £30k investment and a 12-week intensive support program. Applications close June 21.
Solve MIT $5 million Elevate Prize. Deadline July 13, 2020.
All Raise: VC Champions program. Principal level investors who identify as women and non-binary, or men from underrepresented groups are paired with GP "Champions" for quarterly one-on-one coaching. Apply to the 2021 cohort.
UPCOMING (VIRTUAL) EVENTS
Republic's Angel Investing Masterclass Series, Part 3-Due Diligence 201 & Deal Structure (+ Surprise!), June 23, 2020.
The Future of The Black Economy by Foundervine, June 23, 2020.
How to drive revenue by increasing customer retention by Hustle Fund, June 23, 2020.
Equalizing Power: Black Women Tech Founders' Stories, June 24, 2020.
Playfair Capital and Tech Nation host Female Founder Office Hours (remote edition, part 2), June 24, 2020.
FemTech Forum 2020 - The first global virtual conference about FemTech, June 25, 2020.
Small Group Jams with Fred Destin (Stride VC)-For Founders from underprivileged backgrounds/ underrepresented communities.
Talis Capital Monthly Office Hours. Short, 30-minute sessions where founders can sound out ideas, troubleshoot problems and gain feedback. July 8 session is only for Black Founders. Applications close July 1, 2020.
ON OUR RADAR
'Hey Siri, I'm getting pulled over': iPhone will record police interactions.
Serena Williams commits to US Open - August 31, 2020 start is confirmed.
The U.S. Supreme Court voted 6 to 3 to protect the rights of LGBTQ workers.
Walmart and CVS made splashy pledges to stop locking up black beauty products. Why did they do it in the first place?
PEOPLE
Shake Shack appoints Tristan Walker to Board of Directors.
Michael Seibel, Y Combinator CEO, named to Reddit Board of Directors.
Kauffman Fellows is bringing diversity to its boardroom with the appointment of Marlon Nichols.
Brittany Davis becomes General Partner at Backstage Capital.
Colin Kaepernick joins Medium's Board of Directors.
A heartfelt thank you for reading and see you next week!
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