Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has put its Talent x Opportunity (TxO) program on hold, marking an unexpected shift in the firm’s efforts to support founders from underserved communities, TechCrunch reports. Launched in 2020, as AFROTECH™ previously reported, the program aimed to bridge gaps in venture capital access for entrepreneurs, particularly women and minority founders, by offering mentorship, funding, and industry connections. The a16z TxO fund pause comes after five years of operations, during which the program supported more than 60 companies, per TechCrunch, including Brown Girl Magazine, food tech startup Myles Comfort Foods, and maternity tech company Villie. Participants benefitted from a 16-week training program, access to a professional network, and $175,000 in investments via a donor-advised fund managed by the nonprofit Tides Foundation. In 2024, TxO expanded to include grants of $50,000 each for three nonprofits focused on tech entrepreneurship in underserved...

Black Operator Ventures (Black Ops VC) is working to close the Series A funding gap for Black tech founders. Black Ops VC is a venture capital firm led by a Black team of co-founders with a shared mission to “invest in extraordinary founders solving complex problems with software,” its CEO, James Norman, said in conversation with AFROTECH™. Norman and Black Ops General Partner Sean Green sat down with AFROTECH™ to discuss the firm’s vision, leading oversubscribed seed rounds, opportunities in today’s investment landscape, and more. The duo met nearly a decade ago in Los Angeles. Green was among the early cohorts of Transparent Collective, which supports Black, Latinx, and womxn entrepreneurs with raising early-stage funding, and Norman serves as its chairman. Call To Action Realized Before their paths formally aligned, the pair charted unique territory. Norman launched his first company at age 16, an online retailer for car and home audio. He had always been interested in building...

African fintech company Moniepoint has secured new funding to expand its footprint globally. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the company, founded by CEO Tosin Eniolorunda and Chief Technology Officer Felix Ike, offers banking accounts, loans, expense cards, instant payouts, and accounting and bookkeeping solutions. According to information shared with AFROTECH™, the company has processed more than $250 billion in transactions annually for more than 10 million business and personal banking customers. The company said it “is one of the few fintechs globally, and the first in Africa, to achieve profitability at unicorn scale while driving financial inclusion,” in a press release. Moniepoint has officially closed its Series C round, amounting to over $200 million in equity financing. The round was led by Development Partners International’s African Development (ADP) III fund, with LeapFrog Investments joining for the final close, the press release confirmed. Lightrock, Alder Tree...

Rashaun Williams’ HBCU pride guides his path as an entrepreneur and serial investor. The South Side of Chicago native, who will be appearing on Season 17 of “Shark Tank” as a guest judge, comes from humble beginnings. During the Clover x Shark Tank Summit held at The Venetian in Las Vegas, he recalled to AFROTECH™ a time when he’d run extension cords from next door through a window just to power hot plates, relying on kerosene heaters, and looking to the Sears Tower from a distance — now renamed the Willis Tower — at those who were living the American Dream. Williams Enrolls in Morehouse College Over time, Williams vowed to change not only his own circumstances but those of his family and community. He wanted to attend a school that created Black leaders, guiding him to Morehouse College , he told AFROTECH™. Determined to secure his place, he drove his application to the campus rather than mailing it. He enrolled in 1997. “Morehouse is kind of the Harvard of the Black community. The...

Marcus Lowe, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate, has secured massive funding to help people build apps and products. Lowe is the co-founder of Anything, a San Francisco-based software development company that deploys AI agents to ensure you can launch tools, products, mobile, and web apps without writing a line of code. “We’re moving from coding assistants to autonomous development teams. You act like a product manager,” Lowe told Tech Funding News about the platform founded alongside Dhruv Amin . “Say what you want, and the agents build it. We’re not heading toward a world where everyone can code more easily, but one where almost no one needs to code.” The outlet reports that Anything provides users with perks such as back-end infrastructure, authentication, and payment systems. Since launching in August, Anything has gained significant interest, which is reflected in its 700,000 registered users and counting, and $2 million in recurring annual revenue in just two...

Shield, a crypto neobank for global trade businesses, has raised new capital. According to information shared on LinkedIn, the company was founded in 2022 by Emmanuel Udotong (CEO), Isaiah Udotong (chief operating officer), and Luis Carchi (chief technical officer), a team of ex-employees from Facebook and McKinsey, and former exporters who moved commodities across the U.S., South America, Africa, and Asia. Their experiences as exporters led them to realize several pain points that could be solved by blockchain technology. “International banking and payments are the choke points holding back entire trade corridors,” Shield’s team wrote in a blog post. “ When we saw how stablecoins could move money cross-border instantly and transparently, it clicked: this technology could finally give underserved exporters the financial reliability they need to stand on equal footing with their global competitors.” Shield’s website states that it removes trade barriers, permits USDT (Tether...

Serena Williams is shedding light on the current state of raising capital. The tennis legend is a partner in Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm that backs bold founders. Forbes reports that its formation derived from Williams’ recognition that underrepresented groups were an afterthought in venture capital (VC). On X, Williams clarified that Beth Ferreira currently manages and runs the fund. “I remain a partner at Serena Ventures, not in an operational role. To say that Serena Williams, a person, and Serena Ventures, an institution, are one in the same is inaccurate,” Williams wrote. Serena Ventures has raised $111 million, and over 85 companies are among its portfolio investments, according to Business Insider. Sixteen have reached unicorn status, meaning they are valued at $1 billion. Portfolio companies include Esusu, Parfait , HUED, Teal Health, and, most recently, Unrivaled — a three-on-three women’s basketball league founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. Serena...

Ebony Bogui-Akinyi is reshaping how startups across Africa and the African diaspora grow and scale. As the founder and managing partner of Think Forward VC, she invests in and builds companies in health care, fintech, and agriculture, combining capital, mentorship, and hands-on support through a hybrid fund and AI-powered venture studio. In an interview with AFROTECH™, she discussed her approach to venture investing and empowering founders from idea to scale. Her journey to this point, she said, was shaped by her mother. Bogui-Akinyi grew up in a single-parent household, watching her mother, an immigrant from Kenya, rebuild her life step by step, from working at a gas station and driving a taxi to becoming a nurse practitioner. “She showed me how to never give up on what you want, to give yourself a better life while also impacting others,” Bogui-Akinyi told AFROTECH™. That lesson in persistence stayed with her through her education. She began studying medicine at the University of...

Black-led venture capital is showing signs of growth, but progress remains uneven, according to the newly released “2025 State of Black Venture Report” by BLCK VC. “Black investors continue to lead, despite constraint, despite backlash,” Kareema Thomas, chief strategy officer of BLCK VC, wrote in the report. The report found that the median fund size for Black-led firms is $20 million, with an average of $59 million, both below the broader industry median of $50 million–$100 million. The average is skewed by a single $500 million fund, underscoring obstacles that continue to affect how Black general partners (GPs) raise and deploy capital. Notable wins stand out. In 2024, Slauson & Co. raised a $100 million second fund to support women- and people-of-color-led companies in SaaS and consumer tech, AFROTECH™ previously reported. In addition, in February 2025, Cherryrock Capital, founded by Stacy Brown-Philpot and Saydeah Howard, launched a $172 million fund for growth-stage startups...

Former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Marques Colston and former professional mixed martial artist Nick Edwards are teaming up to bring sports investing to the masses. Together, the longtime business partners have launched the Champion Fund, an evergreen sports asset fund under their firm, Champion Venture Partners (CVP), Front Office Sports reports. While ownership stakes in teams and sports businesses have historically been limited to the wealthy, the Champion Fund allows anyone to participate for as little as $500, according to the outlet. The entry point is intentionally low, according to Edwards, who describes it as “compliance driven” but also practical. “Instead of sitting there swiping on DraftKings, or sitting at a baseball game and putting $500 on a parlay, you can have some meaningful ownership,” Edwards told Front Office Sports. “We think of it like a mutual fund. After you invest, you can see all the logos and know that you own part of this team, you own part of this...

Serena Williams is furthering her stake in the sports world. Team Ownership As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Williams has a minority stake in the women’s soccer team Angel City FC; the Los Angeles Golf Club, a team under Tiger Woods’ tech-infused golf league, TGL; and the WNBA’s Toronto expansion team, the Toronto Tempo. Most recently, Serena Ventures — Williams’ venture capital firm that backs bold founders — has been listed among the investors in Unrivaled’s oversubscribed Series B investment round. Unrivaled Unrivaled is a 3-on-3 basketball league founded in 2023 by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. It set a new precedent in women’s sports with the highest salaries, with players earning at least six figures, per Front Office Sports. Unrivaled athletes reportedly earned $220,000 last season, compared to an average of $66,000 to $150,000 in the WNBA. Unrivaled also intends to raise its salary cap next season, which is expected to scale from 36 players to 42. Unrivaled granted...

The Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (SEFAA), managed by Sahel Capital, has secured a $10 million investment from the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund, according to a LinkedIn post. The fund is managed by MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates) in Mauritius. A press release further notes that the investment will allow SEFAA to expand support for small and medium-sized agribusinesses (agri-SMEs), creating 10,000 jobs across 13 sub-Saharan African countries. These businesses, often excluded from traditional financing, play a critical role in empowering smallholder farmers and generating income opportunities for women and youth. “Since the inception of the fund in 2021, we have processed 33 facilities to 18 companies in seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Mezuo Nwuneli, managing partner of Sahel Capital, in the release. “This $10 million commitment from the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund, through MEDA Mauritius, is a testament to our...

Hadiyah Mujhid is looking to diversify the world of venture capital (VC). Formation Of HBCUvc The mission of this University of Maryland Eastern Shore graduate was born from a career pivot. In an interview with ForbesBLK, Mujhid recalled her earlier venture, Picturely, which was launched in 2011. The computer vision startup shaped her understanding of VC and the barriers faced by underserved communities. While she closed that chapter, she explained that she was “walking toward a bigger, more systemic challenge.” In 2017, she launched HBCUvc, a nonprofit organization that creates pathways for Black communities to access funding or become investors, according to the organization’s website. She believed in its vision so strongly that she pulled from her personal savings, took up freelance consulting and applied for grants in her first year, she shared with ForbsBLK. Additionally, she secured an investment from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. “I was fortunate to receive support...

New funding has been secured to help CPG brands scale in retail. Confido Confido markets itself as the “first automated financial operations software built for CPG,” via LinkedIn. Harvard University Graduate Justin Hunter and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Alumna Kara Holinski are the founders behind the startup that launched in 2022. All in all, Confido aims to empower CPG brands — which include OLIPOP, MUSH, Dr. Squatch, Momofuku, and DUDE Wipes — in retail by ensuring accounting, finance, and sales teams have the proper tools and resources to understand the movement of each retail dollar, Nosh reports. Core Products Confido has a few core products. Cash application and deductions automation allow finance teams to spend more time on strategy instead of tedious spreadsheets. Per Nosh, the company has already processed over $1 billion in deductions for their clients. The software also flags deductions and disputes and provides tools to reach a solution. Within the last year,...

Africa’s creative sector just received a significant financial boost. According to its website, Helios Investment Partners is a private equity firm that has been focused on investing in Africa since 2004. It was founded by Tope Lawani, a Harvard Law and Business School graduate who serves as its managing partner, per LinkedIn. Bloomberg reports it is currently targeting sports, entertainment, and media opportunities on the continent. In 2021, it established Helios Sports & Entertainment Group (HSEG) to help provide infrastructure for such opportunities, including investing in NBA Africa, Shoppe Black reports. The outlet shares that the African sports economy will reach $20 billion by 2035. Portfolio Helios Sports & Entertainment Group’s portfolio includes a $26 million development in partnership with Zaria Group (co-founded by Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri). The hospitality and development company has a project in Kigali, Rwanda, that has amenities such as a boutique hotel,...