From the mainstage moments to the hallway meetups, AfroTech 2025 was all about connection and culture. It was a full week of learning, linking, and leveling up with Black innovators from across the globe. And when the panels and presentations wrapped, the energy didn’t stop—it just shifted. With the help of legendary DJs and live performances, conference goers sang, swayed, and danced till the sweat rolled down our… well, you know the rest. This year, with DELEÓN Tequila serving as the official tequila partner, AfroTech invited attendees to three blockbuster events over the course of three epic nights in three different venues. More than 3,000 guests turned up and turned out for the festivities. On Wednesday, Blavity House Party hosted five top-tier DJs for a nostalgia-fueled tribute to R&B. With fly ’fits on deck, partygoers raised DELEÓN cocktails, sang under the stars, and danced to the feel-good sounds of classic and contemporary favorites. What’s a better turn-up than a house...

F5 is one of the most important tech companies you’ve probably never heard of, even though you interact with its technology every day. When you book a plane ticket on an airline app, login to your banking app to check your balance, or order takeout for dinner, chances are F5 software and hardware facilitated and protected those transactions. The top 15 banks in the world are F5 customers, as are the 10 largest telecommunications companies, and the top 10 retailers. From social media to banking, to entertainment and more, if a business is reaching its customers through apps, F5 likely plays a critical role. “At F5 we’re on a mission to build a better digital world,” says CEO François Locoh-Donou. “For us, a better digital world is one where all these great things happen, but without the dangers and distortions bad people try to put into the digital world.” F5’s proprietary technology and the unique space it occupies in the B2B tech landscape played a key role in attracting...

BET+ and Braze to Provide 1:1 Mentorship Guidance in Branding, Email Advertising, and Engagement Strategies to Select Companies through First-ever Partnership In 2023, startups founded by Black entrepreneurs in the US received less than 0.5% of venture funding, and woman-founded startups just 2.2% . To help address this imbalance, Braze, a leading customer engagement platform, has developed Tech for an Equitable Future, a product grant program. The initiative is designed to help underrepresented founders accelerate their company’s growth with the use of Braze technology, increasing their chances at securing future VC funding. The innovative initiative selects 20 startups from APAC, EMEA, and North America with founders from underrepresented backgrounds—including Black and women entrepreneurs. These businesses will receive 12 months of free access to Braze technology, as well as a range of supporting resources aimed at driving business growth and scalability. Each company will...