In January 2022, Esusu reached a $1 billion valuation — making the fintech company one of the few Black-owned unicorns in the U.S. and globally — as previously shared by AFROTECH. However, “Success isn’t built overnight” rings true for the company.

Homeownership is a primary key to building wealth, but there is an alarming gap between Black homeowners and those who are white. Often, the underrepresented group doesn’t even have a fighting chance to successfully apply for a mortgage due to multiple factors such as little to no credit. To level the playing field for Black people in America, Ashley D. Bell and Dr. Bernice A. King have joined forces in shaking up the traditional mortgage lending industry. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ashley D. Bell (@ashleydbell)  

Imagine getting paid just for using your phone? Now you don’t have to with ZmBIZI’s new device. The Z2 is the next evolution in smartphone technology, which allows users to be rewarded in the form of ZmBIZI Coins for using partnering applications, shopping, sharing, and searching on the device. When a user has garnered enough data on their smartphone they can redeem their funds. Each ZmBIZI Coin is valued at $0.01 USD and once users reach $20, the funds will be funneled to the MBZ digital Visa Card, where they can enjoy their earnings freely. “Just being able to look at your phone and get paid is not what is happening today. What is happening today is you are looking at your phone three to 400 times a day, but Apple, Samsung, and everyone else is not giving anything back to you and they have no intention to,” Alpesh Pate, Co-founder of ZmBIZI, told AfroTech. He continued: “What we have created is a device that empowers people to become better than what they are today. We put power...

Access to financial education in America is on the rise thanks to Goalsetter! In a press release, the fintech platform that aims to provide families and K-12 youth with access to banking, financial education tools, investing and savings has just announced that it closed a $15 million Series A funding round. In an investment series led by Seae Ventures, with participants that include Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Astia Fund, Citizens Financial Group, CUNA Mutual Finance Group, Fiserv, Mass Mutual Catalyst Fund, Sterling National Bank, and a host of others, the funding will allow Goalsetter to further its B2B partnerships that align with its mission to transform financial education and access to wealth for all Americans. “For the first time in the history of America, Goalsetter is merging culture, media and entertainment with the world of finance to bring financial education tools that are fun, engaging, and accessible to every kid and family in the country,” Goalsetter Founder...

For former NFL player Gerome Sapp, transitioning from the world of professional sports to the world of business came with ease once he found the right concept. After retiring from the league in 2008, he was inspired to start a new career as a tech founder, and his latest conquest in the industry is proving to be quite a force in the investment space. With his driven mindset and finance background, the athlete-turned entrepreneur came up with an innovative concept to educate his community on what it means to make smart investments in assets that especially resonate with them — sneakers. This simple yet revolutionary idea is what paved the way for his new fintech startup Rares — a product of the Techstars Los Angeles Accelerator program — to launch as a platform to help people to invest in shares of particularly notable sneakers. The business, which launched earlier this year, was born amid the pandemic and gave Sapp the opportunity to combine his two passions — the Stock Market and...

African mobility is taking on a new meaning thanks to fintech startup Moove and its company mission. Today, the Nigerian tech-based vehicle financing platform — also Uber’s exclusive car financing and vehicle supply partner in sub-Saharan Africa — announced the raise of a $23 million Series A funding round to help empower more African drivers to buy and own their own cars.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Moove (@mooveafrica) According to a press release, the round was led by Speedinvest and Left Lane Capital, with participation from other investors such as DCM, Clocktower Technology Ventures, thelatest.ventures, LocalGlobe, Tekton, FJ Labs, Palm Drive Capital, Roka Works, KAAF Investments, Spartech Ventures, Class 5 Global, and Victoria van Lennep, co-founder of Lendable. Additional investors also include Africa specialist, Verod Kepple Africa Ventures and existing Moove lender Emso Asset Management. For many of its U.S.-based venture capital backers, Moove is their...

Last year, Nigerian startup Paystack was bought by fintech giant Stripe in a $200 million deal that sent shockwaves across Africa’s tech ecosystem. Now with more validation for the company, Paystack — already operating in both Nigeria and Ghana — has positioned itself to expand and launch its next location in South Africa. “South Africa is one of the continent’s most important markets, and our launch here is a significant milestone in our mission to accelerate commerce across Africa,” the company shared in a statement. “We’re excited to continue building the financial infrastructure that empowers ambitious businesses in Africa, helps them scale and connects them to global markets.” According to the company’s statement, this new launch also “takes us one step closer to our goal of accelerating commerce and removing barriers to trade across Africa.” The company’s South African launch comes after a six-month pilot project that kickstarted a month after it was acquired by Stripe....