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Journalist and TV host Elaine Welteroth and tennis-champion-turned-entrepreneur Serena Williams have joined forces to address the alarming maternal mortality crisis in the United States. In April 2024, a Time op-ed from the two mother powerhouses was released in alignment with Black Maternal Health Week. Williams has been open about her first childbirth in 2017 being life-threatening and causing her to undergo four surgeries afterward. Moreover, Welteroth has shared her own experience of feeling unsafe with doctors after becoming pregnant in 2021 — leading her in the direction of midwifery care, which she described as “the best decision I ever made,” per a previous Time piece. Now, the two are taking a step further than just raising awareness. According to the latest Time article, Welteroth has founded Birth Fund, a coalition that works to support families in the U.S. who can’t afford the out-of-pocket costs of midwifery care. The mission behind Birth Fund initially started in...
The tech industry isn’t exempt from the phrase, “There’s enough room for everybody to win.” According to a Dice report, over 375,000 tech jobs were posted in October 2022 and were up by 25% from the previous year period (January 2021-October 2021). One of the U.S. cities creating an influx of opportunities in the tech sector is Detroit, MI. Last year, the “Motor City” ranked No. 1 on the list of top 100 emerging startup ecosystems in the world, per a report by Startup Genome.
When the culture is at the forefront of the content, everyone wins. For decades, Sway Calloway and Rahman J. Dukes have been committed to sharing stories with our people in mind. Initially, they were the brains and face behind the popular MTV News segments throughout the 90s and early 2000s. Now, they are on a mission to lead the way when it comes to content that truly reflects the Black experience in America through POLARIS, a 100 percent Black-owned streaming platform. With iconic journalists like Calloway and Shaheem Reid behind the platform, along with Dukes, who was a former executive at both MTV News and REVOLT TV, it’s the perfect recipe for success that does not require sacrifices from the people that the content is specifically designed for.
The first Black-owned free ad-supported streaming channel will soon make its way to VIZIO SmartCast. Polaris was created by digital media pioneer and legendary journalist, Rahman J. Dukes and is a 100 percent Black-owned digital, social media and television platform on a mission to share Hip-Hop and Black culture with the world in a way that only we can do. The platform was designed to uncover and share stories that are created by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). On Sept. 22, Polaris revealed plans for the launch of its first ad-supported streaming TV channel (FAST) which will debut on VIZIO’s SmartCast platform. “Partnering with VIZIO to launch Polaris is a historical step in getting the stories of Black and BIPOC storytellers out there in an authentic way, something we’ve prided ourselves in for the past two decades,” said Dukes, in press release provided to AfroTech. “Polaris aims to be a beacon of inspiration for the culture, and VIZIO will allow our curated...
Lil Yachty and Terrell Owens are back to investing, and this time around they’re getting in on the $1.5 trillion wellness industry that’s booming with innovation. A press release reports that PlantFuel® — the scientifically focused plant-based wellness company — announced that both Yachty and Owens have made strategic investments in the emerging sports nutrition brand debuting on the market this month. With support from these two Hip-Hop and sports figures, respectively, the brand aims to breakthrough into the nutritional retail space. “I’m super excited about my new venture with PlantFuel,” Yachty shared in a statement. “It’s brands like PlantFuel that inspire and allow me to stay actively involved creatively beyond just investing.” The new investment in PlantFuel marks Yachty’s second deal ever with his recently-launched venture capital (VC) fund, Scoop Investments. Prior to this news, AfroTech reported that the rapper previously invested in Jewish dating app Lox Club, alongside...
Facebook is opening up its wallet to creators! CNBC reports that on Wednesday (July 14), the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook has plans to dish out $1 billion up through 2022 to users who create content for its Instagram and Facebook social networks. The social media platform wants to show that they’re still in the market when it comes to attracting influencers while up against its competition with other platforms like TikTok. “We want to build the best platforms for millions of creators to make a living, so we’re creating new programs to invest over $1 billion to reward creators for the great content they create on Facebook and Instagram through 2022,” Zuckerberg wrote in a post on Facebook. “Investing in creators isn’t new for us, but I’m excited to expand this work over time.” Between now and the end of the year, the company will roll out a new bonus program that will pay creators once they hit specific milestones. Included in the bonus programs is a Reels...
Realtime, an invitation-only social media app created by Vernon Coleman and Kevin Robinson just closed a $4 million seed round — making Coleman reportedly one of the youngest Black entrepreneurs to raise venture capital funding. We did it Joe…. 🤗 Excited to Announce @useRealtime has raised a $4M Seed Round led by @alexisohanian @sevensevensix Realtime won’t just change the way people connect and interact… We will redefine what it means to be a social network! https://t.co/P9yI5tr3k4 — Vernon (@VernTheLegend) December 18, 2020 According to a Medium post, the investment round led by Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six also included other big tech investors such as Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI and former president of YC; Scott Heiferman, founder of Meetup; Yancey Strickler, co-founder of Kickstarter; Nick Caldwell, VP of Engineering at Twitter; and several others. Business Insider reports the co-founders dropped out of the University of California Santa Cruz, in what was supposed to be...
The next hottest voice chat app out of Silicon Valley just might be a new breeding ground for controversy and contempt for its users. If you’ve been following along online for the past few days, you’ll know that Clubhouse — a live audio platform still in its private Beta stage — has the potential to lead the pack for new buzzy social media apps this year. Screenshots from Clubhouse/ Credit: Business Insider; Sriram Krishnan, Ben Parr What is Clubhouse exactly? Currently, it’s an invite-only, group voice-chat social network that allows users to speak to each other in real time. The only way to gain access to the app is to reportedly be invited by an already established member on the platform. From there, users can start their own dedicated groups or casual chat groups to speak with followers and other fellow users on any and all topics. In the wake of coronavirus lockdowns, the app’s spontaneous means of communication caught the eye of hundreds of users and quickly became a breakout...
TikTok has been on the tip of many tongues lately. However, despite threats of takedowns and power shifts, the video-sharing giant is still providing opportunities for businesses to grow. According to Small Business Trends , TikTok launched TikTok For Business , under which the brand committed $100 million in ad credits to small businesses as a part of their Back-to-Business program. The initiative is designed to help boost brand awareness, alleviate marketing costs, and craft engaging creative messaging. Now, for a limited time, small businesses can receive up to $2,300 in ad credit. To be eligible for the ad offer, small and medium-sized businesses must sign up for TikTok For Business and register for a TikTok Ads Manager account. Eligible SMBs can claim a one-time ad credit worth $300, the site says. Any additional spending will be matched up to $2,000 per business. This year, TikTok has become an integral part of many businesses and individual creatives’ marketing plans. In...
Black women in tech are coming after big tech companies to be the new contenders in the market. Parent company Urrgent Technology — led by founder Shantell “Charisma” Graham — recently announced a huge launch into the big tech market, unveiling two inaugural digital platforms — StoopUp and Urrgent.com — according to a press release . StoopUp — a free social networking app that allows users to create a digital “Neighborhood” based on shared and given support from others — and Urrgent.com — an online platform for freelancers that creates more opportunities for people of color — are both a part of Graham’s mission to uplift underserved communities and push consumers to accrue economic wealth in the sector. “We’re not reinventing the wheel but we are headed in a more positive direction for the end-users, said Graham in a press statement . “Two separate platforms – each bringing a conscientious, user-first standard, because we have to work and uplift each other as a whole.” According to...