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Many of the top successful founders all share something in common: sacrifice. Whether it’s sacrificing time, energy, or something else. For Calendly Founder and CEO Tope Awotona, he put his earnings on the line. As previously shared by AFROTECH ™, Awotona drained his bank account and 401(k) to build his scheduling company from the ground up. What’s more, he faced countless rejections along the way when seeking venture capital but kept pushing ahead. “Being a foreigner really helped,” the Lagos, Nigeria, native said, according to Inc . “I grew up in a country where 99 percent of the people looked like me, so race wasn’t something I consciously thought about. It’s good to have that mentality. You can dwell on all the reasons you shouldn’t do something or why it’s harder for you. Or you can just go out and do it.” The hustle and grind led to multi-million-dollar investments, which transformed Calendly into a billion-dollar company. For founders seeking to reach success like Awotona’s...
Since launching nearly a decade ago, Tope Awotona’s Calendly has stood as one of the leading scheduling platforms. Following years of bootstrapping and tireless dedication, Awotona led the company to become one of the few Black-owned unicorns across the globe — sitting at a valuation of $3 billion — as previously shared by AFROTECH.
At just 40 years old, Nigerian-American entrepreneur Tope Awotona has gone from overseeing a small startup to turning his company into a tech unicorn. The founder and CEO of Calendly — a scheduling app designed to streamline calendars — has been called “one of America’s wealthiest immigrants” by Forbes, and it’s a title he doesn’t take lightly. With a $200,000 investment — his life savings — Calendly made more than $100 million in revenue, driven in part by its spike in popularity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And Forbes estimates that his revenue will double in 2022 and beyond — and that he’s potentially tapping into a $20 billion market. What’s more, he shows absolutely no signs of slowing down — and we love to see it, indeed. “In my life, I’ve benefited from not taking the conventional wisdom,” Tope Awotona said to the outlet. “It’s benefited me personally, and I think it has benefited the business.” Calendly has long been considered a Black-owned startup that is “killing the...
Calendly, a world-renowned cloud scheduling app whose usefulness only increased in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, has crossed into unicorn territory. According to The Atlanta Business Journal, the app — which was founded by Tope Awotona — just raised $350 million in this latest round of funding. OpenView Venture Partners led the round with assistance from San Francisco-based Iconiq Capital. Calendly, itself, is a company that’s one of the fastest-growing in the field. In 2020, the company reportedly doubled its subscription revenue to $70 million, and as of this writing, more than 10 million people use the app each month to help schedule their meetings. What’s more, the app can also be streamlined with other apps, such as Zoom, which makes it desirable for busy professionals. “Our profitable, unique, product-led growth model has led to Calendly becoming the most used, most integrated, most loved scheduling platforms for individuals and large enterprises alike,” said Awotona....
Black wealth, especially at the billionaire level, remains a statistical anomaly in global finance. But in 2025, that narrative continues to shift — if only incrementally. According to Forbes, out of 3,028 billionaires worldwide, only 23 are Black, representing less than 1% of the list. Despite this underrepresentation, these 23 individuals collectively hold an impressive $96.2 billion in wealth. The figures tell one story. The names behind them tell another story — one of legacy, innovation, cultural power, and long-game strategy. This year, two notable newcomers joined the global roster of Black billionaires: Sheila Johnson, the media and hospitality powerhouse, and Herriot Tabuteau, a biotech founder with a focus on brain health. Both represent not only financial achievement but industry-specific influence in spaces where Black leadership is often overlooked or underestimated. Who’s New To The 2025 Black Billionaires List? Sheila Johnson, widely known as the co-founder of Black...
Sometimes, all it takes is one dream to change a person’s life forever. Somalian refugee-turned-banker to the wealthy elite, Dega Nalayeh, created the blueprint for her success early on in life. After migrating to Canada with her family at the age of 11, Nalayeh had to overcome a few feats including adapting to the country’s cold weather and learning English. As the daughter of a former Somali politician, she knew the power of decision-making and would soon develop a love for math and science, mainly because of her school’s lack of ESL courses. While she managed to find a balance between staying on top of her school work and working a newspaper route to help support the family, Nalayeh had no idea what she wanted to be once she grew up, but she did have hard-working supportive parents. “My parents made it exciting, that I was a girl with this freedom in a country where i was safe and had choices,” said the 49-year-old in an interview with Insider. It wasn’t long before she used her...
Another Black-led company has achieved unicorn status! CityBlock, which bills itself as a “primary care startup” that specifically targets underserved communities, has just announced that it has raised $160 million in its latest funding round led by General Catalyst, according to MedCity News. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cityblock Health (@cityblockhealth) The company, which was co-founded by Dr. Toyin Ajayi, has become the latest Black-led company to achieve unicorn status — that is, when a privately-owned start-up company achieves a valuation of $1 billion or more. Yesterday, we told you that Black-owned and operated Calendly has also achieved unicorn status. “We are fortunate to be in a position where we’ve started to see proof points of our model,” Dr. Ajayi, CityBlock’s co-founder and chief health officer, said to MedCity News. “It’s personal for all of us. I’m a family doctor and I still see patients.” The Stanford-educated doctor previously served as...
It’s hard for Black entrepreneurs to launch startups, but these six companies are killing the game. Their amazing products are getting rave reviews from customers and impressive investments from industry leaders. 1. LISNR Founded by Rodney Williams, Chris Ostoich, and Josh Glick, LISNR is on a mission to completely disrupt the digital payments industry. According to their website, LISNR’s “proprietary ultrasonic data-over-sound technology enables modern checkout experiences globally across the customer journey for merchants, financial service providers and mobility enterprises.” If their recent investment from Visa is any indication, they are well on their way to achieving their goal. Learn more about Rodney Williams and LISNR here . 2. Calendly Calendly is a scheduling app that helps people organize their time better. Founded by Tope Awotona in 2013 and headquartered in Atlanta, Calendly helps its users increase their revenue and provide exceptional customer service by streamlining...
People of color are not having a great time in Silicon Valley. All too often, we hear stories reminding us that the traditional power structure in Silicon Valley is still hostile to Black and brown workers. However, if you’re a Black techie with enormous talent and a passion for creating world-changing technology, what are your options? It might seem like Silicon Valley is still the only place you can work on the coolest projects, but maybe we can look to a prominent entertainer for the alternative. At this year’s BET awards ceremony, Tyler Perry said to a group of fellow entertainers, “…while you are fighting for a seat at the table, I’ll be down in Atlanta building my own.” On that note, here’s a list of cities filled with Black techies and entrepreneurs building their own table. 1. Atlanta, GA Home to three Historically Black Colleges and Universities — Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Clark Atlanta University — and the prestigious Georgia Institute of Technology, the city...