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Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown remains committed to supporting Black-owned businesses, empowering communities of color, and fostering generational wealth along the way. On Feb. 14, 2024, Brown announced the launch of OaklandXChange, a sister project to his nonprofit, BostonXChange (BXC). Jaylen Brown announces a new business district and incubator program as part of his Xchange fund in a speech at a community luncheon at Oakstop in Oakland pic.twitter.com/kZwpd0HYEM — Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) February 14, 2025 Founded in 2024, BXC aims to create $5 billion in generational wealth within Boston, MA’s communities of color, AFROTECH™ previously reported. The organization provides funding, resources, workplaces, and mentoring from seasoned individuals to Black and minority entrepreneurs, helping them launch businesses that contribute to sustainable economic growth . According to Sports Illustrated, OaklandXChange, which launched in partnership with Jrue and Lauren Holiday’s JLH...
Jayden Daniels is using virtual reality technology to improve his performance on the field. According to Pro Football Network, the Washington Commanders quarterback has discovered a link between technology and football through an advanced VR tool that operates at 1.75 times the normal speed. The technology challenges Daniels with scenarios that unfold faster than he experiences in actual gameplay. “It moves faster within the VR than actual human beings…Once you get out there, everything slows down,” Daniels told The Athletic. “I know this is coming. I’ve seen this before, (and) it moved more than 20 times faster in VR.” Jayden Daniels made VR training a condition for any team drafting him. Now he’s NFL Rookie of the Year and 1 game away from the Super Bowl. His edge? Training his brain at 1.75x speed. The story of the first QB 2.0:🧵 pic.twitter.com/OndJs0Azme — Todd Jacob (@thetoddjacob) January 19, 2025 Daniels reportedly had a VR training requirement for any team that drafted him,...
Kevin Garnett broke away from the status quo with his financial decisions during his first decade in the NBA, opting for an unconventional approach that set him apart from his peers. The South Carolina native was drafted into the NBA in 1995 as the fifth overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves, notes ESPN. The power forward signed a three-year rookie contract worth $5,397,120, according to Sportico. He remained with the team for 13 years before being traded to the Boston Celtics. For the majority of his time with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Garnett had an unconventional way of keeping track of his paychecks, which he attributes to a lack of financial literacy. “I was kind of raised with a certain pedigree and mindset so I wasn’t introduced to wires or just fintech. I wasn’t financially savvy. I didn’t know about direct deposit. I didn’t know none of this,” Garnett admitted during an interview on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” Garnett opted to cash his earnings and store it under his...
The future is bright for top high school prospect Anicet “AJ” Dybantsa Jr. The No. 1 recruit in the class of 2025, AJ Dybantsa has already caught the attention of NBA great Kevin Durant , who is impressed by his skill set and has no doubt he will one day be drafted into the NBA. “I got to know him two summers ago between his sophomore and junior year in high school. He came to work out with us. I was impressed by his size and fluidity as a player, his ballhandling. He was shooting jump shots well. He’s got the body type to become a pro in this league for 20 years. It is good to be around him. He has a lot of energy, too,” Durant told Andscape. While there appears to be a foreseeable path towards the pros, Dybantsa will first be taking his talents to college. According to The Athletic, he has committed to Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, UT. He also is the school’s first 5-star recruit, notes KUTV 2 News in Salt Lake City. View this post on Instagram A post shared by...
The Forbes Union has walked out after publishing the company’s annual “30 Under 30” list. The list’s Class of 2025 features individuals across industries such as sports, entertainment, energy and green tech, artificial intelligence, food and drink, venture capital, marketing and advertising, science, and gaming, among others. Boston Celtics player Jayson Tatum, country artist Shaboozey , actress Ryan Destiny, Miss EmpowHer founder Caitlyn Kumi, and Foundry Technologies founder Jared Quincy Davis are some of the individuals listed. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Forbes (@forbes) A total of 600 individuals are featured, collectively contributing $3.6 billion in funding and amassing over 300 million followers across social media, Forbes states. Unsurprisingly, the list generates significant buzz and excitement among readers. It’s precisely for these reasons that editorial staffers made a calculated decision to stage a walkout, drawing attention to a three-year-long...
NFL Star Randy Moss is scaling his presence in the restaurant space. As previously reported by AFROTECH™, Moss became an investor in Brittany Tolliferreo’s Philadelphia, PA-based restaurant chain, Chick-A-Boom, in 2023. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Tolliferreo reached out to Moss via direct message, and then he later liked a sponsored Chick-A-Boom post in 2022, sparking further conversation. “We got on a couple of Zoom calls, and he came here, tasted the product, and loved it. From there, he became my partner,” she told the outlet. Speaking on the investment in a press release, Moss commented: “I’m a chicken lover. Not only was I impressed by the food, but after hearing Brittany’s story and understanding that a lot of our same goals and morals align, it was only right to invest.” Today, Moss is expanding his involvement in the company, now operating under the name Crisppi’s Chicken. In December 2023, he brought the restaurant to his home state with the help of Tolliferreo...
Queen Latifah is helping a Black woman-owned soul food restaurant receive a well-deserved blessing. During a taping of “Street You Grew Up On,” hosted by actress Kerry Washington, it was revealed that Latifah selected Newark, NJ-based Vonda’s Kitchen to receive a $10,000 financial award. The investment is made possible through a partnership between fintech platform Intuit QuickBooks and Washington, aimed at fostering discussions around entrepreneurship, community, and mentorship. As part of the initiative, featured guests are given the opportunity to select a small business to receive funding, according to information shared with AFROTECH™. As a Newark native, the selection was full circle and Latifah emphasized its importance, believing the funds would be well-used under the leadership of owner Vonda McPherson. According to the company website, McPherson transitioned into entrepreneurship after a corporate career with Fortune 500 companies, opening her first restaurant in 1988....
Michael Jordan has invested in a VC firm aiming to align itself with multiple unicorns. Sportico reports that Jordan has invested an undisclosed amount in the fourth fund of Courtside Ventures, a firm focused on the sectors of sports, media, entertainment, technology, and gaming. According to Crunchbase, the firm was founded by Deepen Parikh and Vasu Kulkarni. With over $200 million in assets under management, Courtside Ventures’ portfolio includes companies such as Veo (hardware and software subscription); Winzo (social gaming); The Athletic (sports media brand); and Betty (social casino platform), among others. “When we started Courtside in 2016, we did so out of desperate market need,” a statement from Courtside Ventures’ blog post reads . “Not only was there no venture fund that focused on sports, but existing VCs would run to the hills every time they saw a sports deal. This left entrepreneurs constantly having to look for alternate sources of funding, mostly from the very...
In 2024, BMW remains one of the most prominent car manufacturers worldwide, known for its luxury and performance-driven vehicles and, sometimes, even flying cars (yes, you read that right.) That said, articles published earlier this year have estimated that BMW will make less money in 2024, with the issue being production costs. As investors consider BMW’s financial standing, an important metric to examine is its enterprise value (EV). So, what exactly is enterprise value, and how does it apply to a company like BMW? What Is Enterprise Value (EV)? Enterprise value is a comprehensive measure of a company’s total value, often used by investors to evaluate the full cost of acquiring a business. Unlike market capitalization, which only accounts for the value of a company’s outstanding shares, enterprise value takes into account additional financial factors, such as debt and cash reserves. Essentially, EV reflects what an investor would have to pay to acquire the entire company,...
Whoopi Goldberg is launching a sports platform for women. During a taping of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” she announced the launch of All Women’s Sports Network (AWSN), which has already broken ground in Asia, the Middle East, and India with the help of partners CommonSpirit and Jungo TV. “It’ll be the home for live women’s sports from around the world. Everything from soccer, basketball, tennis, cricket, curling — you name it. If a woman is playing it, we’re showing it,” Goldberg said on the show. Goldberg’s motivation for the network was planted when she was a child. She recalls a time when her brother would play a variety of sports, but she was often left out due to her gender, mentions Yahoo Sports. Throughout her career, she recalls engaging in conversations about how to move the needle in women’s sports. “Ever since I was a little kid, I always wanted to play sports. My brother could play … he played everything,” she explained. “So, for years, I’ve been talking to...
Tori Bell is helping companies ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is not an afterthought. Interest In DEI Work The Agnes Scott College graduate’s interest in DEI work was sparked during her early career stages in investment banking in Atlanta, GA, at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. She served as an analyst and associate program manager between 2012 and 2015, managing the summer analyst program, her LinkedIn mentions. She later joined Jopwell, a career platform for minority students and professionals. The platform had received backing from a number of investors, including Magic Johnson, who had participated in a $3.25 million seed round in 2016, according to Inc. magazine. “What I saw during my time there was that you can hire diverse individuals into these major companies, but if they’re not prepared to support them i t’s kind of like you’re yelling into a void, ” Bell told AFROTECH™. “You’re not really doing much to move the needle, because you’re going to see turnover...
Shontay Lundy has revealed she has only one regret in her journey as a founder. Lundy’s brainchild, Black Girl Sunscreen, launched with a personal investment of $33,000, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. The company offers products designed to provide hydration without leaving a white residue—a common issue encountered by many in the Black community when applying sunscreen. It was this gap in the market that incentivized Lundy. “I’m a woman of the sun, the time I was living in Miami, I currently live in Los Angeles. I love being on the beach. It was ‘Okay, what do you think about sunscreen?’ My friends would offer me sunscreen and I would tell them, ‘Do you see my complexion? That sh-t don’t work on this complexion,'” she explained during a conversation on with AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas on the Black Tech Green Money podcast. “So I jumped on the computer and just started to type in keywords, sunscreen for ethnic skin. Sunscreen for Black girls. Sunscreen for brown girls....
Former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe continues to champion the future of STEM. In 2020, Bowe founded LINGO, a company that offers kits allowing individuals of all ages to engage with projects that promote problem-solving and coding. The goal is to increase exposure to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pathways. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lingo (@stemlingoco) What’s more, LINGO has been well received in the education sector and among Fortune 500 companies, its LinkedIn notes. It is also faring well among investors, raising $2.3 million in a November 2024 round led by Pinnacle Private Ventures, according to a news release. 1863 Ventures, Sequoia Capital via the Scout program, and Dr. Joy Johnson also participated in the round. “This funding round highlights LINGO’s potential to reshape the future of STEM education,” Sean McCurry , founder of family office-owned private investment firm Pinnacle Private Ventures, said in the news release. “We...
Ehime Eigbe has successfully landed her sweet treats in a major retailer. As previously reported by AFROTECH™ , the Nigerian-American entrepreneur is the founder of Sweetkiwi, a yogurt brand launched in 2020. Inspired by her battle with uterine fibroids, which, at 22, she was advised might require surgery, Eigbe sought holistic alternatives. This journey led her to adopt a stricter diet and ultimately to create Sweetkiwi, a brand offering flavors such as vanilla bean, cookies & cream, mango passion fruit, hibiscus & ginger, chocolate hazelnut, and lemon blueberry parfait. “All disease starts in the gut so at Sweetkiwi we continue to work purposefully in our mission to utilize the nutritional power of food to create healthier guts, good health, and wellness,” said Eigbe in a news release shared with AFROTECH™ . View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sweetkiwi (@sweetkiwiusa) Sweetkiwi has been supported through a $250,000 deal from Shark Tank investor, Robert Herjavec, which...
Jayson Tatum is making moves on and off the basketball court as he explores potential investment opportunities in a WNBA franchise in St. Louis, MO. As interested parties compete for ownership of the league’s upcoming 16th team, the Boston Celtics star has informally committed to supporting the franchise, according to Sportico. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Tatum secured a record-breaking five-year, $315 million contract extension in July and now plans to work behind the scenes, helping attract other high-profile investors and advocating for the WNBA team. “St. Louis is a top-tier sports market, and we believe that bringing a WNBA franchise to the region will be a defining moment in the city’s ongoing revitalization,” said Don Soffer, the spokesperson for the effort to establish the 16th team in St. Louis, per Sportico. Tatum’s potential involvement follows a change in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, ratified in April 2023, which, as OnFocus previously reported, now...