Showing 787 results for:
founders
Popular topics
All results
Scarlet by RedDrop Co-Founders Dana Roberts and Monica Williams are celebrating great success for their business, driven by a vision to support young girls navigating puberty. It all started with Robert’s time teaching fifth graders in an Atlanta classroom. She was approached by a student who had started her period and felt that she was dying, according to Yahoo! News. This would lead her to launch RedDrop, which was rebranded to Scarlet by RedDrop in 2025, alongside physician Williams, to serve tweens and teens. It offers pads, tampons, and period kits that include pads in various sizes, as well as a diary that shares helpful tips, according to its website. “RedDrop was our beginning, born from a desire to fill a gap in puberty care for school-age girls,” Williams told Inc. “But as we grew, we realized our name no longer held all that we were becoming. The rebrand reflects the company’s new educational period-care product line that supports tweens and teens at every stage of their...
A team of Morgan State University graduates has banded together to empower other HBCU students financially. Venture for T.H.E.M. is a D.C.-, Maryland-, and Virginia-based accelerator and social impact collective that was founded in 2024 to serve marginalized founders, students, and creatives. It is led by Kiante Bush (CEO) and Clarevonte “Clay” Williams (COO), who are joined by Jewel E. Bush (communications director) and Jeffrey S. Scruggs, M.S. (CTO), according to its website. It offers resources that include weekly workshops and networking, one-on-one mentorship from venture capitalists and C-suite executives, and funding pathways, including non-dilutive grants for HBCU startups. Already, more than 20 entrepreneurs at HBCUs have received funding. Under Venture for T.H.E.M., the AI-powered mobile app Fund.FWD has launched to connect HBCU students and alums to grants, scholarships, investor opportunities, and accelerators, according to a press release shared with AFROTECH™. Fund.FWD...
This Black-owned design and operations firm is expanding its technology footprint. ContinuumX.ai Space Continuum, led by President Joshua Johnson, has launched ContinuumX.ai , its technology division, which will focus on robotics, AI integration, and enterprise deployment and will target healthcare, education, hospitality, and manufacturing industries, according to a press release shared with AFROTECH™. Humanoid and cognitive robots are in the works to be deployed in the U.S. Its efforts are in collaboration with strategic technology partner NEURA Robotics. Partnering with NEURA Robotics was a natural fit, since the company focuses on serving humanity and views robotics as a tool to collaborate with humans rather than replace them, Johnson told AFROTECH™. “A lot of robots will replace certain jobs. That’s based on the company saying that’s actually requiring what their vision is. That can be for different reasons. But we also need to identify where there’s a labor shortage in some...
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...
CurlMix Co-founder Kim Lewis says her business is on the verge of closing. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, CurlMix is a clean, natural haircare line founded by Kim and Tim Lewis in Chicago. The pair appeared on “Shark Tank” in 2019 and rejected a $400,000 offer for 20% of the company. Instead, they raised $1.2 million on their own in 2020 for 10% of the brand. By the following year, they had launched a crowdfunding campaign, raising more than $3.6 million in 30 days. The business launched a separate crowdfunding campaign in 2024, which led to $5.7 million from 9,248 investors, according to information from its Wefunder. With a mission to protect Black ownership, the business is now fighting to stay open. In an Instagram post, Kim revealed that 20,000 orders are needed to ensure the business’s survival. “This has been the most difficult year in business. This year in business was harder than COVID with tariffs and taxes and ingredient costs going up and shipping time slowing down,”...
Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and this was the case for founder Ryan Wilson. Wilson has only worked one job since leaving college, and that’s as the founder of his own business. After graduating from Georgetown Law, he decided to reject a job offer at a law firm. He has since put his all into The Gathering Spot (TGS), a private membership club, founded in 2016 alongside TK Petersen, with Atlanta being its launchpad. The venture — which has attracted entrepreneurs, creatives, politicians, executives, filmmakers, venture capitalists, and more — has expanded to cities including Atlanta, Chicago, New York City, and Detroit, all featuring a full restaurant and bar, co-working space, and event space. Its most ambitious project is the launch of The Retreat, a 60,000-square-foot space near Atlanta’s skyline that will have a pool, private dining rooms, and cabanas for its members, as previously reported by AFROTECH™ . Gaining Investors One At A Time TGS has raised $30 million in...
Ron Busby, Sr. was born to lead. Dialing it back to his time as an elementary student, the Oakland, CA native would take three-mile hikes to school, which had a donut store nearby. He purchased day-old donuts and sold them for a quarter, his earliest foray as an entrepreneur. In conversation with AFROTECH™ , he admits he was always a “hustler” and “entrepreneur.” What’s more, entrepreneurship runs in his veins. His father also owned a business, and channeled his spirit of leadership as a member of the Black Panther Party. “I kind of understood what leadership was about in reference to making sure that the community understood what your mission was, because there were conflicting conversations about who [the Black Panthers] were because all we saw was the brothers in the leather coats and the shotguns,” Busby, Sr. said. “But the people that were in the community saw something totally different. We saw Black men that were feeding us and helping us with our homework and making sure...
Actively Black is redefining Black ownership. The premium athleisure brand is owned by Lanny Smith and was launched in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, during a time when corporations were pouring in commitments to what have since materialized into “empty promises to invest in DEI,” he told AFROTECH™ in an email interview. He recognized it was a marketing strategy, describing it as “performative,” because brands had been profiting from Black consumerism. “We shouldn’t have to ask them to pour back into the Black community. We can do it ourselves,” he noted. Ownership Smith saw an opportunity to pursue ownership in the Black apparel and footwear market, which is projected to reach $70 billion annually , according to a report released by McKinsey & Co. Going full throttle on Actively Black, he aimed to reclaim a portion of the value long extracted by major industry players. “Legacy sportswear giants like Nike, Under Armour, and Adidas have profited off Black culture, Black...
Being at the right place at the right time led Yale University’s Nathaneo Johnson and Sean Hargrow to hit the jackpot. The founders are the masterminds behind Series, an AI social platform capturing the attention of Generation Z. While many may wonder how Johnson, a computer science and economics major, and Hargrow, a neuroscience major, balance entrepreneurship with academics, the duo clarified that dropping out of Yale University was never an option. Instead, they’ve learned to set boundaries as they navigate building their platform and establishing themselves in the venture capital landscape. During the AFROTECH™ U Summit at AFROTECH™ Conference 2025 in Houston, Hargrow said, “You really can’t do the outstanding job of being a good founder and being profitable and raise a round, and do all these things that we want and are aspiring to do if you hedge. And that hedging is when you’re trying to get your homework in by 12, but you also want to raise a million dollars before you...
Founder Piersten Gaines turned a white space in the market into a money-making business. The Harvard Business School (HBS) graduate noticed her friends traveling from Boston, MA, to other cities, such as New York and Houston, TX, forking over $250 for blowouts. Meanwhile, she spent only $45 at a dry bar and avoided the inconvenience of the travel costs. Gaines was convinced that there should be a solution out in the world to address this pain point for the textured hair community. She was determined to launch one, despite not having any prior experience in the industry, she said during a fireside chat held during an exclusive happy hour, hosted by Slauson & Co. and Black Women in Venture Capital, to kick off AFROTECH™ Conference 2025 in Houston. Pressed Roots It would be losing her mother to lymphoma during her second semester at HBS that reshaped her goals and inspired her to create Pressed Roots, Boston Voyager reports. Its formation was aided by Gaines’s hairstylist from the dry...
Abiodun Johnson is helping travelers connect to nearby experiences. When Johnson was two months old, he moved to Nigeria to live with his grandparents until he was 6 ½ years old. He returned to Memphis, TN, where he was born. Throughout his life, he has immersed himself in new communities, and told AFROTECH™ it was harder to feel like a local. He has lived in seven cities spanning three countries and two continents. For the last decade, he has lived in New York City and is splitting his time between Puerto Rico. Nearvana His experience living in multiple places sparked his latest tech venture, Nearvana, a local search platform he co-founded with Jay Jackson (CTO), to help people, particularly travelers, easily find nearby events, places, and experiences. “We really wanted to look at the possibilities of location data and how it could be used to shape more meaningful real-world experiences,” Johnson (CEO) said. “That’s when it really clicked for us that the physical world hasn’t...
Chemist Ron Robinson is betting on the next generation of entrepreneurs. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Robinson founded BeautyStat Cosmetics, a bootstrapped skincare company with product offerings including a triple- patented stable vitamin C, notes Beauty Matter. He also is a chemist and key formulator for Rhodes, a multi-category lifestyle beauty brand founded by actress Hailey Bieber. Elf Beauty acquired Rhodes for $1 billion earlier this year. “Proud day for science. Hailey, Michael @ratty Lauren @laurenratner and the entire @rhode team – Thank you for bringing us on as partners from the very beginning,” Robinson wrote on Instagram. “While some may have experts just for marketing, you truly leaned into the science and allowed us to be part of the team. Because of you, brands have taken notice and now value the need for science-led formulations. This has been the journey of a lifetime and we are proud to be a part of it.” Yes Day Robinson is now dedicating some of his time to...
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...
Chandler Malone is on a mission to help people launch, operate, and scale their businesses successfully. Malone has been the founder of several venture-backed companies and is deeply intertwined with technology. His initial exposure in the field can be traced back to his time playing in the AAU circuit in middle school, when the father of a teammate sold a company to AT&T for $2 billion, which allowed the team to travel on private jets, he told AFROTECH™ . When he played for Washington University in St. Louis, his teammate’s father was Joe Lacob, the owner of the Golden State Warriors, who has also made his wealth through investments in medical technology, the internet, and energy companies, according to Stanford Graduate School of Business. While playing basketball, seeing friends from different socioeconomic backgrounds inspired him to build technologies focused on education and the future of work. In 2020, he launched Bootup, an alternative education marketplace with over 130...
LVHM is considering selling its stake in Fenty Beauty. Fenty Beauty And LVMH’s Involvement In 2017, Rihanna brought Fenty Beauty to market with Kendo Brands, LVMH’s in-house beauty incubator, according to CNBC. Ownership was split 50/50 between Rihanna and LVMH. Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH, shared rave reviews of the Barbados-born music artist and entrepreneur in 2019. “Everybody knows Rihanna as a wonderful singer, but through our partnership at Fenty Beauty, I discovered a true entrepreneur, a real CEO and a terrific leader. She naturally finds her full place within LVMH,” Arnault said in a statement, according to CNN. Fenty Beauty’s Success Fenty Beauty launched with 40 shades of foundation, which catered to people of all skin tones. Its product offerings, including lip gloss, all-over highlighter, plumping primer, and hair and skincare, continue to be a home run for consumers. In fact, the company made $450 million in net sales last year and has a valuation that...
