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Greenwood continues its mission toward economic empowerment for the Black and Latino community. The digital banking platform just acquired Valence to provide communities with support for professional development and job recruiting. The news comes on the heels of Greenwood’s acquisition of The Gathering Spot and solidifies the brand’s stance as a place where our people can not only learn skills for a better financial future but also get equipped with resources to survive and thrive. Valence was established in 2019 by Kobie Fuller, who is also the General Partner at Upfront Ventures. He, alongside Emily Slade and LaMer Walker, wanted to create a network specifically designed to help Black professionals connect with companies and vice versa. Now, Greenwood will leverage the company’s pipeline recruiting database to help companies diversify workforces of all levels from early career to the C-suite. This is a legendary move set to equip Greenwood’s community of roughly one million Black...
Since opening its platform for applications in March 2020, Valence’s membership has exploded. They managed to build an impressive network of Black professionals and creatives spanning industries such as tech, entertainment, sports, and finance. Many large companies now recruit through the platform in an effort to pull in more diverse candidates. “We came to market with a real focus on building community, ensuring that the community had access to one another on the platform, access to opportunities through jobs and companies that were offering those opportunities, and access to capital through the valence funding network,” explains Emily Slade, one of the Valence co-founders. Now, Valence is going a step further to help Black professionals thrive and ascend the ranks in their chosen industries through BONDS — their new mentorship program for Black professionals at or near the executive career levels. What is Valence BONDS? “It’s a membership-based community that’s really focused on...
Valence — a newly-launched platform designed to connect the Black tech community and help close the wealth gap — announced that it raised $5.25 million in its Series A round. GGV Capital was the lead investor during this round and GGV’s Managing Partner Hans Tung will join Valence’s Board of Directors. Other investors included Upfront Ventures, Valence’s initial investor, Silicon Valley Blank, and SoftBank Opportunity Fund. Launched in November 2019, Valence’s mission is “ to provide a digital home for Black talent to connect, access opportunities and aggregate their power.” In the nine months since opening applications to their platform, the community has grown to 10,000 Black professionals and boasts industry leaders such as Arlan Hamilton, Julia Collins, and Paul Judge as members. In addition to providing a space for Black professionals to connect, Valence invites top employers to recruit from the platform. Valence also works with tech companies to help them build diverse and...