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A woman-owned trading finance platform is now positioned to scale its footprint in Africa. Liquify Established in 2023 by Nadya Yaremenko and Alberta Asafo-Asamoah, the Ghanaian company is the “f irst fully digital trade finance platform on the continent,” its website mentions. It exists to connect small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa with capital markets across the globe. The Condia reports that the platform allows exporters to turn unpaid invoices into cash in the same day while investors can tap into a high-yielding asset class with the added perks of short maturities and low market correlation. What’s more, Liquify has integrated AI into its due diligence process to create more competitive rates for exporters selling to investment-grade buyers along with lower operational costs. “We built Liquify to unlock the $120 billion trade-finance gap holding back Africa’s most dynamic SMEs,” Yaremenko (CEO) said, according to The Condia. $1.5M Raise Liquify has already financed $4...
HarbourView Equity Partners just landed a major financial boost to supercharge its growing empire. The Black-founded investment firm, led by Sherrese Clarke Soares, has secured $500 million in debt financing from KKR, according to a press release. The funds will be used to expand the firm’s portfolio of music, media, and sports-related intellectual property. The financing was structured by Barclays, with Barclays and KKR Capital Markets serving as placement agents and Fifth Third Bank as passive placement agent. “We are thrilled to have KKR’s continued support as we further scale the firm,” Soares said in the press release. “This additional capital will help us accelerate our strategy to align with where the media, sports, and entertainment markets are headed. We see a tremendous opportunity to continue investing in evergreen intellectual property, which we believe is historically uncorrelated to broader market volatility and forms a powerful diversification tool.” The new capital...
For the first time in its 71-year history, the 2025 Fortune 500 list shows that women lead 11% of the largest U.S. companies by revenue. Surpassing the 10% mark is a historic milestone in corporate leadership, Fortune reports. Now 55 women serve as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, up from 52 in both 2023 and 2024. While this is positive news, only two of the 55 women are Black: Thasunda Brown Duckett, CEO of TIAA, and Toni Townes-Whitley, CEO of Science Applications International Corp. Historic Progress, But Representation Gaps Remain The rise in women-led companies is largely due to internal promotions. Per Fortune, companies such as Freeport-McMoRan, Principal Financial Group, Ulta Beauty, U.S. Bancorp, J.B. Hunt Transport, and Marathon Petroleum Corp. all appointed women from within their executive ranks to the CEO role. Notably: Kathleen Quirk was promoted from CFO to CEO at Freeport-McMoRan. Deanna Strable-Soethout now leads Principal Financial Group. Kecia Steelman was elevated...
Savannah James — podcast host, entrepreneur, and mother of three with husband LeBron James — is expanding her growing portfolio with Reframe, a skincare brand backed by two years of research and proven results. Released on May 15, 2025, Reframe enters the beauty space with three core products: the Pigment Processor, a daily brightening serum priced at $115; Compression Complex, a facial sculpting moisturizer for $95; and Circadian Cream, which is an overnight collagen moisturizer that costs $135. In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE Magazine, James shared that her passion for skincare dates back to at least middle school, when she would watch her mother apply Noxzema to her flawless skin. Reframe was born from a desire to shift how clinical skincare is seen, experienced, and presented. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Cut (@thecut) “I really love clinical skincare. But it’s not always cute, and it’s not always really innovative,” James told PEOPLE. “So I think...
Aruwa Capital Management, one of Africa’s few woman-led private equity firms, has secured $35 million for its second fund to invest in inclusive, impact-driven businesses across Nigeria and Ghana, according to a press release. Aruwa Capital Fund II drew backing from major institutions, including the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund (MFAGF), Visa Foundation, British International Investment (BII), and Nigeria’s Bank of Industry (BOI), the fund’s first local institutional investor, based on the release. It also attracted capital from global family offices and others with a target of $40 million. However, that number has since changed to $50 million, with a hard cap of $60 million. “In the midst of the current challenging fundraising environment, we are excited to have raised 90% of our target fund size for Fund II and to be upsizing due to strong investor interest,” said Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes, founder and managing partner of Aruwa Capital Management, in a press release via her...
Dr. Christine Izuakor is making it easier for people in technology to forge meaningful connections. The Houston, TX, native is a cybersecurity professional with over a decade of experience leading cybersecurity functions at Fortune 100 companies. Her career journey could have looked very different had she pursued the medical field, a path favored by her Nigerian parents. However, she “failed miserably” in her attempt to become an eye doctor. Her pivot came after taking a course on encryption, which sparked her interest in cybersecurity. “I immediately switched my major and went on to earn a Ph.D. in security engineering. From there, I spent about 10 years leading different security functions at United Airlines, was a graduate cybersecurity professor, and so that’s what really kind of got me into this space and then allowed me to grow,” she told AFROTECH™ in an interview. Cyber Pop-up Today, Izuakor works part-time as an adjunct professor in cybersecurity at various schools and...
Chief Administrative Officer Corenza Townsend has opened a hospital in Louisville, KY. According to CBS News’ “Eye On America,” the idea was first planted eight years ago when Townsend was working as a nurse manager at a hospital in the Norton Healthcare system. She boldly pitched the concept of opening a hospital in Louisville’s majority-Black West End neighborhood to Norton Healthcare’s CEO. “We had this plan,” Townsend explained, according to the outlet. “It wasn’t in writing yet. We happened to see Russ Cox, our CEO, walking to the bathroom. So we stalked him outside the bathroom… Nobody thought he would actually say yes. He said, yes. He just listened to us and he said, ‘Let’s do it. What do you need?'” In late 2024, the Norton West Louisville Hospital reached the finish line after a two-year-long process. Its opening is especially timely, as the area had been without a hospital for over 150 years. “The life expectancy in West Louisville is about 12-and-a-half to 15 years...
Costco is doubling down on its decision to maintain its DEI policies. This comes amid several major companies retracting their commitments, such as Google. CNBC reported that Google had established new programs to empower Black staffers following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. At the time, its CEO, Sundar Pichai, stated the intention “to build sustainable equity for Google’s Black+ community, and externally, to make our products and programs helpful in the moments that matter most to Black users.” The company aimed for a benchmark of 30% of leadership being composed of underrepresented groups by 2025. However, in the years since, Google has fallen significantly short of that goal by reducing staff and shrinking programs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), as has its parent company Alphabet. By mid-2023, DEI job postings by companies in general were showing a downward trend. Job site Indeed offered data that revealed a drop of 44% in postings compared to the...
Angel Reese plans to retire her mother. Reese, born in Randallstown, MD, on May 6, 2002, to Michael Reese and Angel Webb Reese, has grown into an influential athlete, already making her mark in the WNBA by holding the record for most single-season rebounds — before being surpassed by A’ja Wilson. Reese’s athletic genes come from her parents , both of whom played basketball in college. Her mother, Angel Webb Reese, played for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and was inducted into its Athletics Hall of Fame, notes Today. She also had a professional career in Luxembourg. Michael Reese played at Boston College and Loyola University (Maryland) before competing overseas in Luxembourg, Austria, and Portugal, mentions USA Basketball. “My whole family played basketball. My aunts played basketball, my brother plays basketball, my grandparents played basketball. So, it kind of was like, ‘You’re gonna do this,’” Reese told Just Women’s Sports. Unsurprisingly, Reese picked up...
Ira Salls is an inspiration for her history-making role as a McDonald’s franchisee. Salls, a Cincinnati, OH, native, graduated from Northern Illinois University and later earned both an MBA and a master’s degree in public administration from Northwestern University. She secured her franchise title in 1991, as she explained during an interview with WHAS 11 in 2021. Before becoming an owner and operator, she first worked at the fast-food chain as an accountant. “I was hired by McDonald’s because I already had a degree and (was) a CPA. McDonald’s was forward thinking, and they wanted Black CPAs working in their accounting department,” she recalled to the outlet. Salls’ pivot to owning her own McDonald’s locations led her to become the first Black woman franchisee of the chain in Kentucky and Indiana in 1991, the Louisville Business Journal reports. She would go on to become one of the company’s most successful operators, managing six locations in Louisville, KY. She also understood the...
Tori Bell is helping companies ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is not an afterthought. Interest In DEI Work The Agnes Scott College graduate’s interest in DEI work was sparked during her early career stages in investment banking in Atlanta, GA, at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. She served as an analyst and associate program manager between 2012 and 2015, managing the summer analyst program, her LinkedIn mentions. She later joined Jopwell, a career platform for minority students and professionals. The platform had received backing from a number of investors, including Magic Johnson, who had participated in a $3.25 million seed round in 2016, according to Inc. magazine. “What I saw during my time there was that you can hire diverse individuals into these major companies, but if they’re not prepared to support them i t’s kind of like you’re yelling into a void, ” Bell told AFROTECH™. “You’re not really doing much to move the needle, because you’re going to see turnover...
Nikki Fargas and Keia Clarke are making history in the WNBA! According to Diverse Representation, the duo are currently the only Black women holding CEO or president roles in the league. Both women have proven to be enhancers to their respective teams. Since 2021, Fargas, a former University of Tennessee student athlete, has held the position of president of the Las Vegas Aces, bringing valuable experience from her tenure as head coach at Louisiana State University, where she led the team to six NCAA Tournament appearances, notes Just Women’s Sports. Speaking of her appointment in a news release, Fargas said, “We are going to do everything in our power to make our front office the best in the business and provide our players with all the tools they need to bring a championship to Las Vegas.” Fargas fulfilled that promise in 2022 when the Las Vegas Aces earned their first WNBA championship. What’s more, they doubled that feat by winning again in 2023. View this post on Instagram A...
Jessica Taylor has landed her coffee product in a new major retailer. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Taylor, a former Toyota diversity, equity, and inclusion business partner, became the founder of Ezra Coffee in 2021. The idea for the company stemmed from a soy and nut allergy developed by her sister who was also lactose intolerant. Taylor started conjuring recipes on a stove top, creating flavors that could be enjoyed without milk-based creamers. That passion and drive has now grown into an array of products sold through Ezra Coffee such as Candied Yams and Toasted Southern Pecan light roast coffee, as listed on its website. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ezra Coffee Company (@ezracoffeeco) Since launching, the company has secured placements in Target’s online store and was also stocked in more than 40 Texas-based H-E-B stores by October 2023. “This has been such a labor of love and an amazing experience, and I can truly say I could have not done this with out you...
Sheena Allen has announced the closure of a venture supporting unbanked communities. Since 2018, Allen has been the founder of CapWay, a mobile bank inspired by her upbringing in Terry, MS, a small town near Jackson, where there was only one bank at the time. “Jackson has some of the highest rates of unbanked residents in the United States,” Allen previously told AFROTECH™ . “I was very familiar with people not having fair or proper access to mainstream financial services and products.” Creating a solution, CapWay offered savings tools and allowed users to cash checks, establish checking accounts, and send money from their phones, as AFROTECH™ reported. Allen also believed the fintech company’s offerings geared for underserved communities were essential back in 2018 given that she felt this area had been overlooked by Silicon Valley. “Silicon Valley’s definition of real-world problems and everyone else’s definition of real-world problems are not the same,” Allen said. “They live in...
Serena Page could soon be stepping into the haircare industry. Page is the Season 6 winner of Peacock’s “Love Island USA” alongside her boyfriend, Kordell Beckham. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the pair split a prize pool of $100,000 for their victory. Since leaving the show’s villa, opportunities have been endless with partnerships that include NYX Cosmetics, Dunkin’ Donuts, Spotify, and Cécred. View this post on Instagram A post shared by CÉCRED (@cecred) During the ESSENCE GU Disruptor Summit held in Atlanta, GA, on Oct. 12, 2024, Page revealed that while she is in her influencer bag she hopes to step into her businesswoman era by 2025. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Girls United (@essencegu_) Her desires could materialize into leading her own haircare line, which is already in the works. This wouldn’t be her first step into entrepreneurship as she ran a braiding business for four years when she attended the University of Texas at San Antonio. As a result of her...