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A venture capital firm founder has launched a lawsuit against PayPal, alleging that the company’s diversity and equity program excluded her because she is Asian. Nisha Desai, the founder of Andav Capital, claims she applied for consideration in a $530 million financial commitment PayPal announced in 2020 to support Black- and minority-owned businesses , TechCrunch reported. However, she asserts that she was overlooked due to her Asian heritage, as the program primarily focused on supporting Black- and Hispanic-led enterprises. “Funds majority-owned by individuals of other races, including Asian Americans, are not given equal consideration,” Desai stated in the New York lawsuit, per the outlet. “Worse, PayPal and its senior management have repeatedly trumpeted the program’s focus on race, bragging in statements and press releases that PayPal’s program is for some races and ethnicities and not others.” Desai claims that PayPal has violated Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866,...
Concerns about the future have intensified as Donald Trump prepares to be sworn in as the 47th U.S. president. The Washington Post reports minority- and women-owned businesses have looming concerns over contracts, citing a potential loss of $70 billion in annual contracts amid legal disputes affecting government programs for “disadvantaged” firms. Within the Black community, legal issues were prevalent amid Fearless Fund’s ongoing litigation, which has now been settled. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the firm, led by founding partner Arian Simone, was sued by Edward Blum and his American Alliance for Equal Rights group in August 2023 over its Strivers Grant program. The $20,000 grant backed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Mastercard had been aimed at small businesses primarily owned by Black women, and the activist group accused the investment firm of “explicit racial exclusion.” The group had already been victorious in the Supreme Court over race-based affirmative action policies....
Fearless Fund is claiming victory following a settlement that dissolved one of its grant programs. What Happened As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Fearless Fund had been in a legal battle with legal activist Edward Blum and his American Alliance for Equal Rights group over the firm’s Strivers Grant program — a Blum-led group had earlier challenged race-based affirmative action policies and won in the Supreme Court. The grant program, backed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Mastercard, supported Black-owned women businesses with $20,000 in funding, per information shared by “CBS Mornings.” The lawsuit, filed August 2023 in the U.S. District Court in Atlanta, GA, argued it was in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 to launch a grant program “open only to Black females,” labeling the move as “explicit racial exclusion.” As a result, several rulings and appeals have been issued. First, the grant program was permitted to continue operating under U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash on...
College student Layla Wallace has secured a grant for her bakery business. Wallace started her Michigan-based business, Layla’s Cool Pops, when she was just 10 years old after being inspired by her fourth grade economics project in 2015, MLive reports. At the time, she did not have any proper knowledge of what it would take to run a business and be successful, but she is only becoming wiser in light of her steps in higher learning as a business student at Western Michigan University. “When I started the business, I didn’t know anything,” Wallace told the outlet. “I’m taking courses that are helping me develop my business, teaching me the fundamentals of how to function, develop, and grow.” In the meantime, Wallace continues to run Layla’s Cool Pops in Kalamazoo, MI. She sells cupcakes in flavors such as confetti, pink lemonade, red velvet, and lemon, among others, as well as cookie pops, cake pops, brownies, and pies. Orders are currently being fulfilled from her home, and the...
Kevin Johnson’s food venture is rapidly growing. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, the former NBA player who made headlines for becoming the first Black mayor of Sacramento, CA, is the founder of a restaurant venture named Fixins Soul Kitchen. He opened the first location in that very city, which is also his hometown, in 2019, notes Eater Detroit. “I grew up in Oak Park, so that was the poor part of the city of Sacramento, and like every city around the country, it was the underserved community,” Johnson told Eater. “I wanted to do our first Fixins in that neighborhood to prove that we could be successful in the neighborhood I grew up in.” Fixins Soul Kitchen has expanded and now has four locations in the following areas: Sacramento, CA (Oak Park) Los Angeles, CA (LA Live) Tulsa, OK (Black Wall Street) Detroit, MI (Paradise Valley) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Fixins Soul Kitchen (@fixinssoulkitchen) The restaurant’s menu items were inspired by various soul food...
Fearless Fund Co-Founder Ayana Parsons has parted from her leadership role at the venture capital firm. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Parsons reveals that she stepped down as chief operating officer of Fearless Fund, co-founded by Parsons and CEO Arian Simone, in April 2024. “I have stepped back from the operations of the fund, so I’m not in the day-to-day, I’m not running it,” Parsons said, per the outlet . “But what I can tell you as it relates to me, is I’m a problem solver. I’m a changemaker. And so, I am pulling together people to talk about innovative and creative ways that we can continue to drive change and do it in multiple areas.” While the move was amid Fearless Fund’s lawsuit, Parsons emphasizes that her departure wasn’t due to the legal battle. As previously reported by AFROTECH™, Edward Blum and his American Alliance for Equal Rights group sued the Atlanta, GA-based fund in August 2023 for “explicit racial exclusion” by establishing a grant program...
In the past year, Meta has undergone significant transformations, particularly in its approach to workforce management. Meta’s decisions regarding layoffs have not only attracted attention but have had a substantial impact on the company’s financial performance. Meta incurred staggering losses totaling $16 billion, primarily attributed to its Metaverse endeavors, mainly its Reality Labs division responsible for Oculus goggles. This marked a significant increase from the previous year’s loss of $13.7 billion, with Meta reporting a loss of $4.6 billion in the final quarter of 2023. Meta’s Stock Surge And Improved Margins Despite these substantial deficits, Meta’s stock surged by 12% following recent updates, largely due to the company’s improved margins. Meta’s revenue increased by 16%, while operating income and profits surged by 62% and 69%, respectively. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has assured investors of further losses in the future due to ongoing investments in augmented reality/...
Master P and Snoop Dogg believe Walmart And Post Foods are stifling the success of their cereal venture. In a press conference held on Feb. 6, it was revealed the rappers-turned-businessmen have filed a lawsuit as a result of their belief that the “industry giants” allegedly colluded to impact Broadus Foods’ Snoop Cereal’s visibility on store shelves, a press release mentions. Several alleged grievances were mentioned including a breach of the implied covenant of good faith dealing, breach of contract, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, collusion and conspiracy, and aiding and abetting an infringement, among others. During the conference, a video displayed interested customers looking to purchase Snoop Cereal in Walmart stores. While navigating the cereal aisle, one customer who visited a Walmart in Long Beach, CA, Snoop Dogg’s hometown, discovered the brand was allegedly missing from the store shelves. Other snippets displayed customers with a similar discovery. After further...
This company is trying to bring hope to consumers thanks to the help of its bots. Bot-It Founder Maurice Bachelor is behind a platform that allows users to develop their own online bot, regardless of their knowledge in coding, Eqvista reports. Bachelor conceived the idea after seeing a friend struggle with completing an online task. He then surfed the internet for a solution, knowing an automated bot would lessen the burden. However, he recognized there was a gap in the market and believed he could create a solution. “I saw a big opportunity for consumers to start automating. So I started to build out the proof of concept for Bot-It,” Bachelor told Eqvista. “I wanted to build an affordable web and mobile application where you could simply tell the system what website you want to automate and the system would handle the rest. That is how Bot-It was born.” According to the platform’s website, beginning at a price point of $9.99 per month, users can create a bot to complete tasks that...
Berry Gordy became a music force thanks to an investment from his family. Before Becoming A Record Executive Before becoming a famed record executive, he pursued various other ventures, partly driven by his father’s influence as an entrepreneur. The Telegraph reports that Gordy’s father owned several businesses, involving his family in several endeavors, including a plastering and carpentry business, a general store, and a printing shop. As for Gordy, he would explore becoming an amateur boxer, which prompted his exit from high school to turn professional. However, this venture reached a dead end, per The Telegraph. He then switched gears and served in the U.S. Army in Korea but was discharged. Gordy managed to finance a record store with his earnings, but it would shut down after two years. His next move was working at a nearby Ford Motor Co. plant, earning $85 per week, according to the Orlando Sentinel. During this time, he also nurtured his love for songwriting. “I wanted to...