Zoom’s exclusive A-list, invite-only, quarantine parties; Black Female founder in NOLA raises $8M; Femtech startup working on wearable tech for hot flashes; $200M African VC Fund.
A weekly newsletter for Black and Brown women highlighting entrepreneurship and venture capital in the tech ecosystem.
Happy Sunday,
The most in-demand documentary series in the world right now is the ESPN (Netflix if you are outside the US) Michael Jordan documentary "The Last Dance.” Watching Michael Jordan is awe-inspiring and gets you fired up to be greater and do greater. Whether in basketball, life, or business, we know that you get out of it what you put in! This week, the news is full of stories of founders of color raising millions in funding. These aren’t overnight success stories. These founders have put in months and years of blood, sweat, and tears to build their businesses and their stories are just as inspiring as His Airness. Time to get to work!
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey donates $10 million to Oakland schools’ tech equality initiative. Zoom’s exclusive A-list, invite-only, quarantine parties. Spotify launches a new party mode feature called Group Session. Animal shelters are hosting virtual adoptions. Common’s #WeMatterToo push urges jail releases amid virus.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend — see you soon in your inbox!
USA
Goldman Sachs announced its inaugural black and Latinx entrepreneur cohort, part of Launch With GS, its $500 million commitment to allocate capital to companies with diverse leadership.
New Orleans based Resilia, a Black and female-owned SaaS platform for nonprofits, raised $8 million in Series A funding.
Clubhouse, a months-old, Bay Area-based voice-based social media app with less than 5,000 beta test users, has reportedly raised $12 million funding from Andreessen Horowitz at a post-money valuation of $100 million.
Facebook is buying GIF platform Giphy in a deal worth $400 million.
LinkedIn adds polls and live video-based events in a focus on more virtual engagement across its platform.
Salesforce is the newest tech giant to tell employees they can work from home for the rest of the year, even after its offices have reopened.
WeWork and SoftBank announce the first 14 startups in their Emerge accelerator for underrepresented founders.
EUROPE
London femtech startup Astinno, which is working on a wearable to combat hot flushes, gets grant worth $450k.
PlayPlay, a Paris-based video content creation tool, raised €10 million ($10.8 million) in Series A funding.
UK plans £250m boost for cycle lanes and fast-track e-scooter trials.
Is Pexip becoming the Zoom of Europe?
Helsinki food delivery startup Wolt has raised a new €100 million round of funding.
VanMoof, a Dutch startup enabling electric bikes with technology, has raised a €12.5 million funding round from Balderton Capital.
AFRICA
Image Credits: TechCrunch
Novastar Ventures becomes $200M African VC fund after $108M raise.
AgVentures, a South African agric-tech investment company, has raised a $5.4 million fund to invest in companies building tech solutions for food production in Africa.
Egypt’s Source Beauty raises pre-seed funding from 500 startups.
South African grocery delivery startup Zulzi has raised $1.6 million.
Facebook partners with telcos to build a huge undersea cable around Africa to boost internet access in the continent.
Egyptian startup Brimore has raised $3.5 million funding in a pre-Series A round.
Villgro Kenya awards $150K to 12 Startups fighting COVID-19 in Africa.
Ventures Platform Fund invests in three Nigerian startups: Tambua Health, FunnelJoy and Brass.
INSIGHTS
Emergency Relief Fund Resource List for Founders of Color
-BLCK VC
Startup founders to VCs: Level Up!
-Fred Destin/ Stride VC
State of Tech Innovation and Investment in Africa Report
-AfricArena
Venture Capital Needs a Complete Reset
-Gabe Kleinman/ Obvious Ventures
A Global Perspective: COVID’s Impact On European And American Female Founders & VCs
-Johannes Lenhard/ Max Planck Cambridge Centre for Ethics
How Tech Giants are taking over, and how to fight back
-George Chichua/Coopsight
5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me About Investors When I Was a Founder
-Margaret Roth/Squadra Ventures
VCs Are Missing Out On ROI By Short-Changing Founders Of Color
-Geri Stengel/Ventureneer
FUNDING & COMPETITIONS
Pitch Your Startup at AfroTech. Apply by May 17.
The Dorm Room Fund has launched its first Blueprint Investor Track for Summer 2020 for aspiring Black, Latinx, and Indigenous student investors. Applications due May 27, 2020.
Apply to pitch at Silicon Valley Squares- a weekly online show where entrepreneurs can get live pitch feedback from experienced Silicon Valley investors, founders and accelerator alumni.
Mozilla Foundation announced the COVID-19 Solutions Fund. It awards up to $50,000 each to open source technology projects which are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications on a rolling basis.
Women fund managers are encouraged to apply for African Women Leadership Fund membership.
Applications are open for BGV’s flagship tech for good programme. They offer £30k investment and a 12-week intensive support programme. Due June 21, 2020.
#Innovation4Future Hack Competition - Call For Volunteer Mentors.
UPCOMING (VIRTUAL EVENTS)
Fireside chat with Katia Beauchamp, Co-Founder & CEO of Birchbox, May 25, 2020.
Invest In Women - Virtual Pitch presented by Chloe Capital / ECMC Foundation. May 19, 2020.
50inTech Online Workshop: Brand your Pitch to Convince Investors with HiPitched, May 19, 2020.
Jane VC Virtual Workshop with Allison Yazdian (Compass): How to Sell Amidst a Pandemic, May 20, 2020.
AFRICA - PP Impact Investor Webinar & Ventures (Women Founders), May 20, 2020.
Startup Runway Atlanta 8th Showcase (DIGITAL), May 20, 2020.
One Planet Ventures is hosting a virtual startup pitch competition, May 21, 2020.
ON OUR RADAR
Loud talking could leave coronavirus in the air for up to 14 minutes.
A million people are pretending to be ants on Facebook — and it could be therapeutic.
Dogs endure emotional difficulties in puberty like humans, says study.
Facebook to pay $52 million to content moderators suffering from PTSD.
Thank you for reading and see you next week!
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