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Taking into consideration its network of entrepreneurs, T.D. Jakes Enterprises has launched an accessible marketplace. In 2023, the social impact holding company set out to support underrepresented entrepreneurs by addressing a critical gap. Despite the efforts of stakeholders driving meaningful change, there were no centralized systems or platforms to provide comprehensive resources. This need inspired the launch of the Good Soil Movement in April 2023. “What we didn’t find was one centralized space where entrepreneurs can not only network but actually get access to capital, access to back office support, legal help, accounting support, business plan development, understanding where they fall on the capital continuum… So out of that, we created Good Soil,” Michael Phillips, chief operations officer of T.D. Jakes Enterprises, told AFROTECH™. Nourysh Good Soil has set an ambitious goal: to empower 1 million small business owners to generate $1 million in revenue each. To advance this...
Co-founders Audrey Djiya and Peter Nsaka have secured funding from Fearless Funding. TechCrunch reports that the pair became connected while attending Stanford University. Djiya attended its school of business, while Nsaka studied computer science. Although they pursued different educational journeys, they were united by a shared mission: solving the complexities surrounding international commerce. Their focus became streamlining the movement of goods across borders, addressing issues such as inefficient supply chains, inconsistent regulations, and barriers to trade. Their unique perspectives and expertise became the foundation for tackling the challenge with innovation and collaboration. For Djiya, she had taken note from her family, who were entrepreneurs. “Growing up watching family members move goods cross-border, the challenges around international commerce really stuck with me,” she told the outlet. Nsaka made his own observations while at Shopify. He took on the role in 2020...
Amazon, one of the world’s most influential companies, continues to grow its presence across various industries in 2024. Known for its dominance in e-commerce, cloud computing, and digital entertainment, the company’s market capitalization reflects its massive global impact. As of 2024, Amazon’s market cap remains a key indicator of its financial health and industry dominance. Let’s explore what Amazon’s market cap is in 2024, what factors influence it, and why it remains one of the most valuable companies in the world. What Is Market Capitalization? Market capitalization, often referred to as market cap, is the total value of a company’s outstanding shares of stock. It’s calculated by multiplying the current stock price by the number of outstanding shares. For a company like Amazon , with its large number of shares traded on the stock market, this figure provides an insight into how much the market values the company. For example, if Amazon’s stock price in 2024 is around $3,500...
Fearless Fund has made a new investment, following a court victory. Fearless Fund is more than one month removed from the settlement of a major court battle that centered its Strivers Grant program, which allocated $20,000 in funding to Black-woman-owned businesses. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, a lawsuit had been filed by the American Alliance for Equal Rights group as it claimed the program operated with “explicit racial exclusion.” The case has been settled between the parties, resulting in the grant program’s closure. However, the move was viewed as a victory by Fearless Fund, which only had one grant left to disperse from the program, and the final decision allowed the firm to “strategically” avoid a Supreme Court ruling — something that could have impacted the greater population of Black business owners seeking funding. “This is a WIN and positive outcome for the Fearless Fund and our community,” Fearless Fund stated on AFROTECH™’s Instagram at the time. “We strategically...
Chpter, an AI-powered company based in Kenya, has secured significant funding. Chpter Launched in 2022 by Mesongo Sibuti (chief technology officer), Kuria Kevin (chief product officer), Mark Kiarie (chief operating officer) and Tesh Mbaabu (CEO), the conversational commerce company allows businesses to scale their revenue — on platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and TikTok — by up to five times through features that include automated abandoned cart recovery, post-purchase chat messages, and automated responses through chatbots, per its website. “We are thrilled to pioneer the social commerce revolution, starting in Africa, as more and more consumers turn to social channels such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to communicate and purchase from the brands they love.” Mbaabu, co-founder of Chpter, said in a post shared on Medium. “Specifically, WhatsApp’s role in business communication cannot be overstated. With more than two billion active users, it offers an...
Sony is betting big on Africa’s video game industry. According to a press release, Carry1st — an African game publisher and digital commerce platform established in 2018 by Cordel Robbin-Coker, Lucy Hoffman, and Tinotenda Mundangepfupfu — has scored a financial commitment from the Sony Innovation Fund, the venture capital arm of Sony Group Corporation. This follows nearly nine months of conversations between Robbin-Coker and the Sony Innovation Fund: Africa, per CNBC. Furthermore, this is the firm’s first investment in Africa and a strategic move as Sub-Saharan Africa’s gaming industry is projected to earn more than $1 billion in 2024, according to data from Newzoo and Carry1st shared in the press release. “We are excited to welcome Carry1st as our first investment in Africa,” said Antonio Avitabile, Managing Director – EMEA, Sony Ventures Corporation, in a news release. “We believe there is tremendous untapped potential for the gaming market in Africa, which we hope to experience...
When speaking on successful Black-owned businesses, Telfar sits gracefully in the top ranking. With each new release, the apparel brand’s popularity continues to spike in fashion. As previously reported by AfroTech, it became the “it” brand during the COVID-19 pandemic and has since gone on to collaborate with the likes of UGG and Moose Knuckles. The hype around Telfar has reached where many fans are left disappointed when they’re unable to secure their items during the online frenzy that occurs when there’s a drop. But according to Clemens, soon Telfar won’t only be available online. Essence reports that Clemens shared in an interview with The Breakfast Club that Telfar has its first physical store in the works. “There is one coming,” he said. “We’re opening a store this year in New York City. And we’re still deciding where that is going to be. I don’t want to say too much about it, but we’re opening a store this year.” The tidbit is all that has been revealed so far. Therefore,...
COVID-19 spurred a seismic shift in buying behavior and fast-tracked years of change in the way companies across all sectors and regions do business. U.S. Commerce Department data reveals that consumer spending through non-store channels grew more than 30% in November 2020 when compared to November 2019 — the second-highest rate of any month since the agency began publishing data in 1992. In parallel, U.S. retailers experienced a boost of $152 billion in e-commerce sales in 2020. As consumers overwhelmingly shifted their spending toward online channels during the pandemic, business owners had to pivot more quickly than they ever imagined. At the same time, Black business owners found themselves disproportionately affected by pandemic-linked business impacts. A recent study conducted by the JPMorgan Chase Institute found that Black-owned businesses often experience lower revenues, smaller profit margins and more limited access to cash. Between February and April 2020, more than...
TRiBL is a social networking platform on a mission to unite the diaspora. Beginning at the end of this month, TRiBL will rebrand its mobile application to include Pan-African commerce providing greater opportunities to circulate wealth within the Black community. With partnerships from Visa and cryptocurrency firms Circle Internet Financial & Paxos Brokerage, the company will soft launch digital wallets for users to access within the application to monetize approved group chats. Cryptocurrencies will provide Black creators and influencers an opportunity to gain income from fiat rates and greater visibility for fundraising opportunities.
NBA star James Harden is taking his business and investor expertise to Saks’ luxury platform. The high-end e-commerce company has appointed the Brooklyn Nets player to its board to share his unique perspective as a fashion enthusiast in an effort to help expand its high-potential consumer brands. “I am honored to join the Saks board and to be a part of a company that is paving the future of luxury retail. This is an exciting opportunity for me to combine two of my personal passions – a love of fashion and teaming up with brands that have the potential to lead while making an impact on the communities they serve,” Harden said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the Saks team, and to having a direct impact on the company’s future success, the fashion community and its customers.” A press release reports that Harden’s appointment comes as the latest milestone for Saks’ strategy to become the premier luxury e-commerce platform in the fashion industry. With a proven track...
As we look toward the future of retail for Black founders many questions come to mind. What do retailers want? How can they be successful? For founders like Sterling Smith, the answer is simple. “Retailers want freedom,” he tells Will Lucas on the latest episode of the Black Tech Green Money podcast. “Retailers want flexibility and they want the ability to say ‘hey, I’m with Shopify one day but it isn’t allowing me to service my customers in this way, using this third-party integration partner so let me go to BitCommerce. They also want minimum to zero lag time and downtime.” He also explains that retailers also want to be able to not only complete transactions with their customers but also want to be able to leverage the data and own their customer data. “Technologies like Sandbox Commerce allows for growing brands and retailers to do just that in the same way that larger brands snd retailers that you may find in stores like Nordstroms are doing,” continued Smith. View this post...
FedEx has announced the launch of a brand-new initiative that’s helping small diverse businesses adapt to e-commerce models. An announcement from the company shares that the FedEx E-Commerce Learning Lab — developed in collaboration with nonprofit organization Accion Opportunity Fund (AOF) — is a hands-on program that’s designed to help diverse small business owners create and/or expand their e-commerce operations to innovate their business models. The FedEx E-Commerce Learning Lab — which is funded by a $1 million grant — was created out of a desire to help support women and people of color entrepreneurs whose businesses have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. As a result of the pandemic and social distancing rules, online shopping has become a wildly popular trend amongst consumers over the last year. However, many businesses were not equipped with a website or online shop to capitalize on this opportunity, especially Black, women and people of color-owned...
The nation’s first climate-friendly snack brand could soon become more accessible for Americans. Certified WBENC woman-owned business and BIPOC-founded and owned brand, Moonshot, has announced that it’s expanding its distribution. Its signature crackers are now available for purchase through several value-aligned retailers both in-stores and online, including Bubble, Goldune, and New Leaf, reports 69 News. Created by Planet FWD , Moonshot is made with the planet’s health in mind. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Moonshot (@moonshotsnacks) “We’re thrilled to grow the reach of our climate-friendly food movement with retailers that consumers already rely on to uphold their sustainability standards,” shared Julia Collins , founder, and CEO of Moonshot in a statement. “We recognize that the power of our impact cannot be achieved by any one brand alone and look forward to the continued growth of this movement through trusted retail partners.” Research reveals that the...
Black-owned everything is a way of life. Zerina Akers is the millennial entrepreneur behind Black Owned Everything — the intersection between a marketplace and media culture when it comes to everything Black! Akers, the long-time stylist to Beyoncé and Chloe x Halle, has become a fashion household name for her work as a costume designer for Disney’s “Black Is King.” Not only does Akers’ Black Owned Everything empower a diverse community of creators, but she built the company on the foundation of inclusivity with a mission to amplify Black creators. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Black Owned Everything After the platform was introduced on Instagram in mid-2020, it took over! Today it has built a community of more than 200,000 followers and 14,000 registered Black businesses. “After seeing the overwhelming response from the @blackownedeverything Instagram page, I recognized the need for a luxury retail space for Black-owned businesses to have a global reach. It was a natural progression...