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Fawn Weaver does not believe selling your company is necessary to show you didn’t fail as an entrepreneur. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Weaver is the founder and CEO of Uncle Nearest, a whiskey brand honoring the spirit of “Nearest” Green, a formerly enslaved man credited for teaching Jack Daniel how to make whiskey. The company has achieved remarkable success. It has a 458-acre distillery with the world’s longest bar (518 feet) in Shelbyville, TN, and sells its whiskey in more than 30,000 stores, bars, hotels, and restaurants. Additionally, the company surpassed a valuation of $1 billion, but if you think for a second Weaver plans on selling, think again. She has not warmed up to venture capitalists, private equity, or institutional lending. Instead, Weaver has relied on the support of individual investors. By 2023, she raised $225 million through this route, with individual investors not owning more than 2% to 3% of the company each (employees own less than 3%). Weaver...
The Black Opportunity Fund (BOF) — a Toronto, Canada -based community-led charity — has launched BOF Capital to expand access to business and housing capital for Black entrepreneurs. The initiative includes two primary fundraising goals: a $100 million private equity growth fund to support Black-owned businesses and a $50 million shared equity housing fund to help Black Canadians purchase homes, according to The Globe and Mail. While fundraising is still in its early stages, BOF Capital intends to have both funds secured by the end of 2025. “We know where we are going for that first $150 million and now what we are doing is bringing them in and having conversations with those anchor investors to get everything papered and do the due diligence,” BOF’s CEO Craig Wellington said, per the outlet. “We have essentially been holding them back, some of them for three years.” Leaders on Bay Street — based in the center of Canada’s financial sector in Toronto — founded BOF in 2020 to help...
Martha’s Vineyard is a place of solitude for Black families during the summer. The island in Dukes County, MA, was recently featured in the popular Netflix series “Forever” directed by the legendary creator of “Girlfriends,” Mara Brock Akil. In the new show, characters Keisha Clark (played by Lovie Simone) and Justin Edwards (played by Michael Cooper Jr.) reconnect in Martha’s Vineyard after a breakup. Edwards’ family resides particularly in Oak Buff each summer. History Of Martha’s Vineyard Explained Furthermore, the location of their reconnection was intentional, per Brock Akil, who lives part-time in Martha’s Vineyard, according to Netflix. The series is adapted from Judy Blume’s 1975 YA novel of the same name, and Episode 5 takes viewers to Martha’s Vineyard, serving as a love letter to the island. “Understanding the essence of the island, even in the way it shaped the story, is important,” Brock Akil told Netflix. “You think you’re just arriving on the island, and you don’t...
South Loop Ventures has officially closed a $21 million Fund I to support early-stage startups, with a strong focus on founders of color, TechCrunch reports. The Houston,TX-based venture firm is part of a growing movement to reshape who gets access to capital and where that capital flows. Fueling Founders From The Ground Up Founded in 2022 by Zach Ellis, South Loop Ventures, according to TechCrunch, focuses on seed and pre-seed investments, writing average checks of about $400,000. Anchor investors include Rice Management Co. and Chevron Technology Ventures. Additional contributions came from Texas Capital Bank and The Great Commission Foundation of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. The tech outlet reports that the firm has made 13 investments and plans to back at least 30 companies from the fund. “We thought it was important to have a fund focused on diverse founders here in Houston, given Houston’s diversity,” Ellis told the outlet. Though South Loop Ventures invests nationally, its...
Morgan DeBaun went against Silicon Valley’s metric of success. Her entrepreneurial journey began at age 13 when she started investing in the stock market. She later earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and entrepreneurship from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. By 2014, she had become a founder and CEO, launching Blavity Inc. — a global company dedicated to providing media and product solutions for Black Millennial and Gen Z consumers, as well as businesses and organizations aiming to connect with this audience. By 25 years old, she became one of the few Black women founders to secure $1 million in funding. Blavity Inc. has since continued to raise capital, successfully completing three acquisitions and integrations — two of which she executed before turning 24 years old, within just 18 months. The most recent, RNB House Party (now Blavity House Party), was acquired in November 2023. Today, Blavity Inc. encompasses brands like Blavity, AFROTECH™, 21Ninety, Travel...
Black Unicorn Factory has set a historic precedent in equity crowdfunding. Black Unicorn Factory (BUF) is a business development accelerator and equity crowdsourcing platform established by Johnny Stewart in 2012. Through BUF’s Follow Me for Equity app, it uniquely allows individuals to secure stock in pre-IPO companies by simply becoming a follower of a company through the app. “Stop following for free and earn equity,” actor Anthony Anderson said in a promotional video for the company. BUF’s target audience is underserved communities who are being left out of opportunities in the venture capital space. “It is disheartening to observe that the venture capital industry only allocates funds to a mere 1% of businesses led by individuals from underrepresented communities. At BUF, we firmly believe that this disparity cannot persist, and we are committed to providing an alternative to the discriminatory practices prevalent in the traditional venture capital landscape,” a statement on...
Back in 2020, Terri Burns made history at GV (formerly Google Ventures) as not only its first Black female partner but also its youngest-ever partner at age 26, as previously shared by AFROTECH™. The promotion came after she joined the investment arm of Alphabet in 2017. Now, the history-maker is spreading her wings to take on building out her own venture. Fortune reports that Burns is launching her firm, Type Capital. “To the next generation of founders… you’re exactly our type,” Burns wrote via Instagram when announcing her new firm. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Terri Burns (@tcburning) According to Fortune, the 30-year-old was moved to start Type Capital after seeing a trend of venture capitalists investing in companies only after seeing fellow VCs show interest first, which she describes as “heat.” Burns aims to change the status quo by taking the lead and pursuing risks “driven by true innovation,” not by other investors. “They’re talking to amazing investors,...
When passion exuded by investors matches that of the founders, it could be a win-win situation. On the latest episode of AfroTech’s Black Tech Green Money (BTGM), Blavity COO Aaron Samuels is joined by Slauson & Co. founders Austin Clements and Ajay Relan to discuss all things venture capital, which includes sharing their expertise on the world of investing. As an early-stage venture capital firm, Slauson & Co. invests in the tools and platforms of people to grow and expand small businesses. Their belief is rooted in the power of entrepreneurship with a focus on empowering founders regardless of their proximity to the traditional venture capital ecosystem. They truly believe that intentionality and inclusivity will take investors a long way when it comes to finding the best pool of founders to partner with. “There are a lot of diversity funds popping up, or a lot of people that are going after those markets and the question that comes with that is — ‘Is it too crowded or too niche...
Initialized, a standalone San Francisco-based early-stage venture capital firm that now has $3.2 billion in assets under management and more than 200 active companies in the portfolio, has announced Abdul Ly as its fourth principal. In a post made on the company’s official website, it was revealed that the United States-born, Senegal-raised Ly is the third principal to join the team through their open search process. “At Initialized, we don’t evaluate founders based on education level or work credentials,” wrote the company in its official announcement. “Instead, we are more interested in their lived experience and the product they are building. [Abdul Ly]’s philosophy about how he meets founders complements that of our investment team. He is most eager to learn about the distance a founder has traveled and the steps they took to get to where they are today.” According to a blog post, prior to his work at Initialized, Abdul Ly had a background at such companies as Google. He was...
Tyson Clark, a general partner with Google Ventures, has passed away. He was 43-years-old. Part of one a growing — albeit small — list of Black VCs, Clark was also a veteran of the armed forces. During his armed forces career, Clark became a naval nuclear propulsion submarine officer and led the boat’s scuba diving team. He joined Google Ventures — the investment arm of Alphabet, the parent company of Google — six years ago, and has been impactful in the field ever since. Bloomberg reports that Clark led the investments into such companies as Lightmatter, Ethos, and Evident.io, which was acquired by Palo Alto Networks Inc. Prior to joining Google Ventures, Clark was an investment banking associate at Morgan Stanley, and a director of corporate development at Oracle Corp. He also spent six years at Andreessen Horowitz, and served on the board of trustees at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Most importantly, Clark was also a proud father of three children.
Black Ops Ventures, a Black-owned VC fund, has announced that it has closed its first fund with investments totaling $13 million. And, thanks to this fund closing, the company has announced its intent to exclusively back outstanding Black tech founders in the United States and Canada. According to a press release, “In securing investments for this initial close, Black Ops relied upon long-standing relationships with some of the most respected names in the tech industry.” Some of those names include Blavity, Inc. CEO Morgan DeBaun, Drew Houston, Jacob Gibson, Ben Horowitz, Union Square Ventures and Jeff Bussgang. Bank of America and Northwestern Mutual led the fundraising round, according to the press release. “We are part of this community of Black founders, with better access to deal flow than other venture investors, regardless of their cultural background,” said James Norman , partner, in the press release. Norman is also the founder of Pilotly and co-founder of Transparent...
Determining the valuation of your startup before presenting to investors can provide you (the founder) with a better understanding of how much your startup is worth. Plus, it will allow you to pinpoint how investor negotiations should be handled. Although growth and traction might be challenging for early startups, a valuation can still be done. Here are some pointers on determining your startup’s valuation: Determine Your Revenue Revenue is king of startup valuation. Therefore, you should know how much money your startup has generated. However, it might be difficult to asses monetary growth early in the game, or your monetary assessment might not be up to par with venture capital (VC) standards and expectations. To prove the valuation and potential growth of your startup, you could include things like monthly views, weekly revenue instead of annual income, or positive reviews from a set number of customers. Using alternative yet legit revenue predictors can show VCs your valuation...
The dust has nearly settled after Amazon announced it would no longer move half of its second headquarters to New York. Now, the company plans to expand its Austin Tech Hub and employ 800 more people. “ With a strong pool of technical talent in Austin and a dynamic quality of life, we are excited to continue to expand and create more opportunity in this vibrant city,” Terry Leeper, General Manager of Amazon’s Austin Tech Hub, said in a press release. Amazon’s presence in Texas has brought more than 22,000 jobs to the state, and the company is looking to spread its impact. The tech hub expansion will create hundreds of software and hardware engineering, research science, and cloud computing positions. Austin has steadily made its mark as one of the growing tech cities in the United States and one of the top tech hubs in the South. The annual South By Southwest conference and Apple’s plans to build a $1 billion Austin campus have been major players in the shift. Smaller companies are...
Women founders received only 2.2 percent of U.S. venture capital this year, according to data from Pitchbook. That number has not budged since last year, and it sheds light on one of the broader gender issues in entrepreneurship — most of the big decision makers are men. Organizations like EnrichHer , Jane VC and Backstage Capital are working to diversify who venture capital goes to and are bringing women to the forefront of VC funding. EnRicherHer is a platform that allows women-entrepreneurs to connect directly to investors. Investors can send money to the companies and organizations of their choice directly through the platform. EnrichHer also features chatting options and funding profiles to help users navigate how and with whom they’d like to spend their money. Jane VC is a women-led VC firm that wants to fund female entrepreneurs. The company has revamped the way that entrepreneurs pitch investors by asking female founders to pitch directly to the firm. Jane VC gives...