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The advancement of technology doesn’t necessarily always have to be a bad thing. While many suggest that technology and social media alone have caused us to communicate less effectively, this Black founder says it can also mean the complete opposite. “If the pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that both of those things are kind of true,” said Travis Montaque on the latest episode of Black Tech Green Money (BTGM). “When I think about some of the things that we’ve done at Holler from a research perspective, one of the things we look for is how people are utilizing technology and platforms to connect with each other.” Holler is a messaging technology company that delivers content in messaging environments that includes texts, social media, and payment apps. Montaque shares that during his company’s most recent report, studies found that 42 percent of people message more than they did pre-pandemic. “If you think about the natural behavior that created the demand for messaging platforms...
AI messaging company Holler is well on it’s way to proving that Black founders can obtain VC funding to help power their startups and fuel their missions to change the world. According to TechCrunch, the Black-owned tech company has just announced the raise of a $36 million Series B funding round, bringing its total funding to $51 million overall. The round was co-led by CityRock Venture Partners and New General Market Partners, with participation from other investors such as Gaingels, Interplay Ventures, Relevance Ventures, Towerview Ventures and WorldQuant Ventures. MarTech Series reports that Holler plans to use the new funds to “invest in the research, engineering and development around conversational media, and the original creative content intended to drive its use.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Holler (@holler.io) Holler — which is described as a conversational media company — initially launched with a mission to become a news and video content app before...
There’s been an update in Dame Dash’s sentiments regarding ownership of “Reasonable Doubt.” In a recent Instagram video, Dame Dash acknowledged that there is “a lot going on” but he was surprised the media hadn’t covered what he considers “very relevant” news regarding his dispute with Jay-Z over the 1996 debut album. Dame Dash asserted that the City of New York, not him, filed a significant court document on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, stating its concern over alleged misleading comments by Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records (RAF). Per a report by All Hip Hop, the City, represented by the NYC Department of Social Services, requested a pre-motion conference as well as a stay of Dame Dash’s auction sale as a result. The petition was reportedly submitted to U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger. “’Jay-Z’s statements to the press have poisoned the environment for the auction,'” Dame Dash read from the City’s alleged statement. “‘He has claimed that he has a termination right under the...
Dame Dash claims Drake may have interests in buying his stake in Roc-A-Fella Records. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Dame Dash is in the midst of having his shares sold after an $800,000 judgement was placed on him in regard to a copyright infringement and defamation of character lawsuit. With a chance to invest in Roc-A-Fella Records, the interest is high as it brings partial ownership of the copyright to Jay-Z’s debut album, “Reasonable Doubt.” “Based on feedback I have received from interested parties (and I can’t mention names), this auction will likely bring out many household names in the sports and entertainment industries as well as those interested in a piece of a historically significant company, which holds an interest in a timeless debut album,” Dame Dash’s attorney Natraj Bhushan explained to Billboard. Bhushan’s prediction may be ringing true as Dame Dash recently shared on the “America Nu Network” show, he received a direct message from Drake, who was looking to...
Imagine a world where your thoughts control your devices. No more typing, swiping or even speaking. Elon Musk ‘s Neuralink, a brain chip implant, promises this mind-blowing leap into the future. By merging human and machine intelligence , Neuralink could transform everything from medicine to communication. The wireless brain chip from entrepreneur Elon Musk’s Neuralink has been implanted in an actual person for the first time in 2024, a year after the test was approved. Musk declared that the patient “is recovering well” after receiving the implant. The technology is intended to be used for multiple purposes, such as facilitating a brain-computer interface and helping people regain their motor function . Musk’s assertions were not independently verified, and Neuralink failed to offer many specifics. Though ethical questions about the device and its testing have been raised, Musk has hailed Neuralink as the technology and medical breakthrough of the future. Here’s what you should...
We need more people like Drake in our lives. HipHopDX reports that the rapper recently sent Kodak Black more than $300,000 in Bitcoin, the popular cryptocurrency. Kodak Black dropped the dime on the rapper during an appearance on The Breakfast Club. “Drake and I do a lot behind the scenes talking and s—t,” he said. “I ain’t tell nobody this, but the other week that n—a sent me a quarter-million dollars, for no reason. Me and my brother Lance, we in the car and this n—a text me like, ‘You got Bitcoin?’ I was like, ‘Nah.’ He was like, ‘Set up a Bitcoin wallet.’ So I’m putting two and two together, that’s four! S—t, and then over time, those coins got up to like 40 bands a coin. So then that s—t came in and it’s really like $300,000 in my Bitcoin wallet right now.” You can check out the full Breakfast Club interview with Kodak Black below. Kodak Black’s math aside, the news about Drake’s generous gift comes amidst rumors that the two are forming a collaboration or a partnership...
The African population offers greater genomic diversity in comparison to any other people group in the world, according to Science. Despite this, most genetic research is conducted in European countries, raising concerns for the integrity of medical research. This is why Nigerian-based startup 54gene is combatting the discrepancies in genomic research through its health technologies. The advancements will provide medical discoveries for the African population and the diaspora. To date, the genomic startup founded by Dr. Abasi Ene-Obong has collected over 300,000 genomic samples. The companies efforts will expand its medical discoveries thanks to $25 million raised in a Series B funding round, a press release states. The round was led by capital firm Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund and included Plexo Capital, KdT Ventures, Ingressive Capital, Adjuvant Capital, Endeavor Capital and more. The company’s promising impact on the future of drug and health research is drawing in...
Facebook has some explaining to do…again. A video posted by Daily Mail on the platform shows Black men being harassed by a white onlooker who eventually calls the police on the Black men for allegedly trespassing. The situation worsened after several Facebook users reportedly received an automated message asking if they would like to “keep seeing videos about Primates,” reports the New York Times. In response to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) blunder, Facebook has issued an apology. A former Facebook employee, Darci Groves, sounded an alarm through a Facebook feedback forum after receiving notice from a friend. She also took to Twitter to expose the AI failure on Sept. 2. Um. This “keep seeing” prompt is unacceptable, @Facebook . And despite the video being more than a year old, a friend got this prompt yesterday. Friends at FB, please escalate. This is egregious. pic.twitter.com/vEHdnvF8ui — Darci Groves (@tweetsbydarci) September 2, 2021 “This ‘keep seeing’ prompt is...
In today’s world, it’s no secret that social media is only a small reflection of what our reality truly looks like. From MySpace days to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more, most modern social media platforms have been treated as highlight reels of our lives. But is this a realistic portrayal of the human experience? Artist and tech startup founder Ziarekenya Smith would say, not at all, considering most platforms today do not allow space for people to be fully transparent about both the good and bad events that happen in their lives. This is why he set out to change this with his platform Inpathy. Inpathy is described as a “first-of-its-kind online space designed to deliver the human experience to millions of people worldwide by encouraging transparency, normalizing moods and showing people, it’s okay to express yourself.” Per Smith, the goal of the platform is to “recreate the human experience” to foster a more balanced environment for interactions between people online. Prior...
It’s time for Black-owned media to have more control within the industry, and this first-of-its-kind collective is launching an inspiring initiative to help us accomplish that. Today, Group Media — a unique media collective and accelerator dedicated to the advancement of Black-owned media properties — has launched with a mission to increase Black ownership and help Black media conglomerates claim their rightful place in this space. Founding member companies of Group Black include ESSENCE, Holler, PlayVS, Afropunk, The Shade Room and Baller Alert. Additionally, Holler’s Travis Montaque joins as co-founder, director and CEO alongside serial entrepreneur Richelieu Dennis, Group Black’s co-founder and chairman. As part of its launch, Group Black is kicking off its buying power with an inaugural $75 million target media investment from GroupM, a press release reports, which is also part of its effort to deploy at least $500 million in Black-owned media by the end of next year. “Our...
While it may be faster for African businesses to trade goods with other partners outside of the continent, it also makes them more dependent on exports and prevents new markets from being created. To combat this, Ghanaian-based company Jetstream is proposing its own solution. Jetstream — which operates as a vertical broker between the fragmented and often-hidden segments of cross-border supply chains in Africa — uses technology in order to simplify the process of moving cargo across borders, per its company website. Today, its mission has become focused on “white labeling the systems built internally to manage shipments and financing for customers,” according to TechCrunch, and the startup just closed a $3 million seed round to continue this work. The outlet reports that the funding round included both local and international investors as participants, such as Alitheia IDF, Golden Palm Investments, 4DX Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Asia Pacific Land, Breyer Labs and MSA...
Black creativity wins again! When it comes to the Internet, we are always sure to start or take a trend to the next level and this time it’s the late Tupac, who’s been the topic of conversation across social media. Just two days after the world honored what would’ve been the Hip-Hop legend’s 50th birthday, an animated version of the “How Do You Want It” emcee made its way around the web. On Friday (June 18), a clip of a scene between the late rapper and Omar Epps surfaced — except Tupac had been turned into a cartoon. A Twitter user captioned the post, “They said if Juice was made by Pixar.” They said if Juice was made by Pixar y’all relax ??? pic.twitter.com/QJwL8mGjJn — Highkage DarkMagiXian (@TallDarkNAnson) June 18, 2021 As you can see, it was accompanied by a video of the scene from the 1992 cult classic where Bishop, portrayed by Tupac, and Q, played by Epps, had an intense discussion after he had been avoiding him after he shot their friend Raheem, played by Khalil Kain....
N-I-G-G-E-R — t he letters flowed down my chat like a waterfall of hate. My heart fell to the bottom of my stomach. I had only been streaming for a few months when this incident happened. A random person took time out of their day to hit me with a racial slur, with the sole intent of ruining my day. It was just another reminder that as a Black person, not even video games are a safe space. Unfortunately, this is all too common in the world of video game streaming. Black people in the Average Gamer Community have endured relentless, unwarranted disrespect for years. I was playing Overwatch and tried to make effective call outs to help my team win the match. Someone on my team proceeded to imitate my voice, then called me a “ghetto, broke nigger who sucks at the game.” In this arena, your audience is largely watching your stream to see how you react to the game. That’s why it’s essential for streamers to show their face via webcam if they hope to grow their following. As video game...