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The bankruptcy case for Houston’s Turkey Leg Hut has officially ended, leaving more than $6.5 million in debt unpaid, according to the Houston Chronicle. The outlet notes court records show that the Chapter 7 trustee Ronald J. Sommers, who was overseeing the case, confirmed all accounts are empty, and no assets remain to satisfy creditors. Sommers noted in his report that there were insufficient assets to administer, and all financial records had been submitted to the U.S. Trustee. “The bank statements reflect a final zero balance, and no other funds or assets of the estate remain in my custody,” he wrote, according to the Houston Chronicle. Founded in 2015 in Houston’s Third Ward, Turkey Leg Hut became known for its stuffed turkey legs, quickly drawing long lines and celebrity visits, the Houston Chronicle reported in a separate article. The restaurant began in a parking lot near the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, founded by Nakia Holmes and her then-husband, Lyndell Price. Over...
After six years in the making, Zora’s Place — Evanston, IL’s first Black feminist bookstore for all ages — has become a reality for L’Oreal Thompson Payton. Following a soft opening, her dream officially launched on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, with a grand opening at its pop-up location in The Aux Wellness Collective community space. According to WBEZ Chicago, the 700-square-foot pop-up space on Washington Street will run for at least six months. “Zora’s Place is really my love letter to the community — for Black women, Black and brown children, Evanston, and anyone who wants to feel safe being their full, authentic self,” Payton told WBEZ Chicago. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zora’s Place (@zorasplace) Payton’s family has been there every step of the way. According to WBEZ Chicago, her husband, Jeff, is director of operations, handling everything from assembling bookcases to setting up furniture. Their 3-year-old daughter, Violet, proudly takes on the roles of...
Group Black, co-founded in June 2021 by Richelieu Dennis, Bonin Bough, and Travis Montaque, sought to secure advertising commitments from brands and agencies to channel spending toward Black-owned publishers. According to Adweek, backed by an initial $75 million investment from GroupM and multimillion-dollar deals with Ziff Davis and NBCUniversal, the collective aimed to raise and distribute funding of $500 million. However, the group is now the center of two lawsuits. In May 2025, Essence Communications filed a lawsuit against Group Black, which responded with a countersuit in June. These legal actions follow a dismissed October 2024 lawsuit by Essence Communications, alleging that Group Black owed $20 million to its publishers, Essence and Afropunk, and had misused the funds. Essence Communications is a subsidiary of Dennis’ Sundial Media and Technology Group. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Sundial Media Group is a vertically integrated media, technology, and experiential...
The Gilbert Family Foundation is investing over $4 million to strengthen Black-owned businesses in Detroit through grants to Black Leaders Detroit (BLD) and the Michigan Black Business Alliance (MBBA). Announced during National Black Business Month , the Foundation revealed in a news release on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, that it is investing in a broad range of programs, expanding access to capital, technical assistance, and business coaching. “Detroit’s continued growth hinges on a strong small business community throughout the city,” said Darnell Adams, the Gilbert Foundation’s vice president of Detroit community initiatives. “These investments will ensure Detroit developers, entrepreneurs , and small businesses have the resources and opportunities needed to shape the future of our city and state.” BLD will receive a $2.1 million grant to expand its no-interest lending programs, including The Building Fund, which offers up to $150,000 to Black real estate developers for residential...
Romy Antoine has raised funding to promote health and wellness in the workplace. Born in Haiti, the founder moved to America before he was one year old. He says his mother often cooked healthy meals throughout his upbringing, and he played sports. When he was age 13, his father purchased a weight set, and Antoine began working out in the living room. He was also infatuated with various magazines that discussed health and wellness. This is something he developed into a lifestyle and carried over into high school and college. While pursuing higher education, he became a personal trainer, studied biology as a major, and minored in exercise science. “There’s so many myths out there, so I wanted to make sure I had all the right information, and it’s all backed by science,” he told AFROTECH™ in an interview. One Stop Wellness For nearly six years, he focused on an online personal training business, working with clients from across the globe on meal plans and workout programs. In 2018,...
Four-time NBA champion, Hall of Famer, and sports analyst Shaquille O’Neal continues to be a powerhouse in the fast-casual dining space. His restaurant venture, Big Chicken, now has more than 350 locations in development across the U.S., making it one of the fastest-growing franchises in the country, Fadeaway World reports. Launched in Las Vegas in 2018, the brand has evolved into a nationwide movement built on big flavors, oversized portions, and personality-packed menu items like the “Big Aristotle” and the “Charles Barkley.” As the outlet notes, Big Chicken’s mission is simple but impactful: Channel O’Neal’s “larger-than-life personality” into comfort food that keeps guests coming back for more. Building that bold idea into an empire hasn’t come without its hurdles. Since launching its franchise model in 2021, Big Chicken has faced some growing pains, Essentially Sports reports. Despite opening in promising markets like Houston, Lubbock, and Fort Worth in Texas, some locations,...
Founder Mitchell Jones announced on Aug. 6, 2025, that his startup, Lava Payments — a digital wallet that enables merchants to use usage credits for transactions in an AI-driven web — has raised $5.8 million in a seed funding round led by Lerer Hippeau. According to TechCrunch, Lava aims to simplify payment processes and developer workflows by building a solution for the modern web, where AI agents increasingly handle transactions on behalf of users. The funding will go toward hiring, product development, and go-to-market strategies. “We see the world as very interconnected,” Jones told TechCrunch, explaining how his product differs from its competitors. “What we’re really focused on is building [for the] agent-native economy.” Jones launched Lava after departing from his Y Combinator-backed fintech startup, Lendtable, and diving into AI development. While building a basic form-filling agent, he spent over $400 and repeatedly ran into the same issues — starting new subscriptions,...
Culture Wireless is on a mission to bring affordable internet, better coverage, and community ownership to places that need it most. When the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) rescinded millions in federal broadband funds, it threatened to leave Georgia’s underserved communities further behind, according to The Current. For Culture Wireless, a Black-owned internet provider co-founded by William “Bam” Sparks (chief marketing officer), the impact was deeply personal. “Personally, it affects me because it hinders people in my community from having access,” Sparks told AFROTECH™ in an interview. “The government doesn’t understand how deeply it impacts certain neighborhoods, especially on the west side of Atlanta, where there’s a digital red line and limited access to basic tools.” For Sparks, the funding cuts weren’t just setbacks — they sparked a renewed drive to build solutions beyond traditional telecom and government efforts. Culture Wireless was created to close this...
Olajuwon Ajanaku and Earl Cooper are returning to Detroit using their business as a tentpole. The Morehouse College graduates are the visionaries behind Eastside Golf, a golf apparel lifestyle brand launched to bring more attention to youth golfers and energize interest in golf among those who don’t commonly play the sport, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. The pair did not have a background in fashion, but made the risky move to quit their full-time corporate jobs in America to put everything into the venture, according to AFROTECH™. That move has fared well for the entrepreneurs. Their business secured $3.4 million in funding in 2024 through a round led by EP Golf Ventures, a partnership between the Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) and Elysian Park Ventures. The pair also debuted a footwear collaboration with Nike in 2024 and have secured partnerships with the MLB, NFL, NBA, Mercedes-Benz USA and Jordan Brand, AFROTECH™ previously reported. What’s more, the...
Pinky Cole, the visionary founder and CEO of Slutty Vegan, is taking her plant-based brand to Florida. After regaining full control of her company, as AFROTECH™ reported back in April, she’s officially announced her first new restaurant location. The Slutty Vegan Florida grand opening is set for Saturday, July 5, 2025, from noon to 6 p.m. at 2080 Badlands Drive in Brandon, Florida, just outside Tampa. The announcement was first made via Instagram on June 26. “One thing God don’t do is play about me 🙏🏾🥰💪🏾… WHATEVER YOU DO… KEEP GOING” she wrote. The post also featured a video by multi-platinum Hip-Hop artist Flo Rida, who welcomed the restaurant to his home state with enthusiasm and support. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pinky Cole Hayes (@pinkycole) “Hey, what up? What up? It’s your man—Flo Rida—and I’ve got a huge announcement to make. I had to snap this one myself because I’m proud to say it’s official… Slutty Vegan is touching down in the state of Flo Rida! It’s...
What happens when TikTok energy collides with food delivery? You get BiteSight — a new, Black-owned app rising fast in the Apple App Store rankings. It all started with a viral trend: a sister playfully “bullying” TikTok into supporting her brother’s startup. The internet listened — and now, BiteSight is taking off. As of June 24, 2025, the app holds a rating of 4.9 stars out of 5 from over 1,200 reviews. @realeater.flou It’s called BiteSight and it’s really fun I promise 🙂 #foodelivery #nyc #founder ♬ original sound – Lucious ~ Building BiteSight🍔 “I built this because I wanted to see all of my friends’ favorite food delivery spots,” founder Lucious shared. “Now, I can, like, go to their profile, see the places they like and what they rated them… and everything you see, you can get it delivered in like 15 minutes. It’s really cool.” On BiteSight, users scroll through short videos and photos from some of the best real spots in New York City, according to its description on the App...
Cities across the U.S. have a clear opportunity to boost their economies by increasing the number of Black-owned businesses that serve as employers. Recognizing this potential, The Brookings Institution’s Metro Center for Community Uplift initiative is on a mission to help communities, policymakers, and grassroots organizers understand the crucial role of Black entrepreneurship. In June 2025, Brookings launched the Black Business Parity Dashboard. The dashboard shows the number of businesses and jobs, as well as the potential revenue and payroll generated if Black business ownership were to match the Black population in metro areas, according to a Brookings news release. Brookings’ research indicates that Black Americans outperform the national average in entrepreneurial traits tied to business success. However, systemic financial barriers — such as limited access to credit and the long-standing denial of wealth-building opportunities — have hindered growth. Centuries of denying...
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...
Blavity Fest 2025 lit up Atlanta, GA’s Lee + White complex last weekend in celebration of Black innovation , cultural expression, and collective wealth-building. Attendees experienced inspiring panel discussions led by experts in entrepreneurship , personal branding, creative development, and financial empowerment, while hands-on workshops offered practical skills in areas including stock trading, book launching, and event planning. The event, held from May 31 to June 1, also featured networking opportunities at community meetups, a Black-owned small business market, and immersive installations designed to spark creativity and connection. The high-energy, high-stakes, and high-impact success of the 2025 Blavity Fest was no accident, as Atlanta is, for the third consecutive year, the nation’s leading hub for Black-owned businesses, as previously reported by AFROTECH™ . According to a LendingTree analysis, nearly 14,000 — or 11.3% of all businesses in the city — are Black-owned as of...
Issa Rae doesn’t just produce hit shows — she creates cultural experiences, too. The entertainment mogul and serial entrepreneur has expanded her hospitality footprint with the recent launch of Downtown Dough, a funk-inspired pizzeria and cocktail bar in downtown Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported early May 2025. According to the publication, Downtown Dough is the latest collaboration between Rae and her partners, Yonnie Hagos and Ajay Relan, under their growing hospitality group, Good Vibes Only ( GVO) . By day, the 6,000-square-foot space continues as Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen, a beloved community hub Rae helped scale across Los Angeles . By night, it transforms into Downtown Dough, which its website states is a “vibrant dining experience that is inspired by the free and forward era of the ’70s.” As far as the menu, expect wood-fired, Neapolitan-style pizzas with garlic oil-brushed crusts, and toppings such as truffled cream fondue, Fresno chiles, and Manila clams. Beyond...
