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A venture capital firm supporting Black tech companies has closed its second fund. BKR Capital Led by Managing Partner Lise Birikundavyi, alongside co-founder Isaac Olowolafe, Toronto-based BKR Capital invests in technology or technology-enabled startups. According to the firm’s website, they target companies with diverse teams that have at least one Black founder and are at the pre-seed to seed stage. The firm primarily focuses on companies based in Canada, though up to 10% of its portfolio may be global. “We need to keep innovation at home,” Birikundavyi explained, according to The Globe and Mail. “We all want a Canada that is strong economically – where our children can grow up and have everything they need.” Fund II Details BKR Capital has raised $20 million for its second fund, aiming to reach $50 million by the end of 2026, per The Globe and Mail. The raise was supported by Royal Bank of Canada, Business Development Bank of Canada, Export Development Canada, and others,...
Aasiyah Abdulsalam is leveraging robotics to solve pain points in the wig industry. The London native, raised in Ireland by parents from Nigeria, developed scalp psoriasis at 12 years old, according to Inc. She began wearing wigs because she was losing hair “ excessively, ” she said. By default, she became acquainted with hair brokers, stylists, and specialty product manufacturers. They were useful when she was creating her own wigs or getting them installed, the outlet notes. When she became a student at the University of Leicester, her fascination for the wig industry grew. She even moved to South Korea to work at a wig factory for six months to support her dissertation, which centered on studying the “manufacturing geopolitical ties” of a consumer product. “I became obsessed,” Abdulsalam explained to Inc. The Wig Fix The dissertation’s outcome later inspired the creation of The Wig Fix in 2020, a transparent, patented, hypoallergenic silicone wig grip that can secure a wig with...
Keith Lee has made his first investment in the restaurant space. Lee, a content creator with 17.4 million followers on TikTok alone (as of this writing), is known for dedicating his time to amplifying mom-and-pop restaurants and small businesses. He doesn’t seek preferential treatment, ensuring he has the same experience as everyday customers while delivering authentic reviews that have often changed the trajectory of a business altogether. Examples include Janel Prator, founder of The Puddery, who was on the brink of closing her shop until a food review from Lee went viral, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. Prator was also given a $50,000 grant from Lee in partnership with Toast through its “Little Things” campaign. While Lee’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurs has long guided him, he is taking it to the next level by joining his family to invest in Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, an Asian-inspired fusion restaurant and consumer products brand with 22 operating locations, according to...
Funding is being raised to keep the doors open at Barber-Scotia College in Concord, NC. The Historically Black women’s college lost its accreditation in 2004, per its website, but under the leadership of its president, Chris V. Rey, J.D., it is working to regain it. In a Facebook video from January, Rey acknowledged that the school had recently had its hardest day since he took over as president in 2023, according to his LinkedIn. The school has struggled to raise funds to continue operating but has acknowledged support from alumni and individuals who align with its mission, he noted. “It’s not easy raising money for an unaccredited institution … We have completely run outta money as an institution,” Rey said in the Facebook video. “Many of our students, who have decided to come and be on this journey with us, many of ’em, they have struggled to pay ’cause they don’t have access to federal financial aid yet. And it has been truly a challenge for them. Some of our major donors that...
Ex-MIT and Stanford engineer KJ Hardrict is changing the interview process for job seekers. Hardrict’s background spans engineering, venture capital, and content. He has worked at Link Ventures as a principal and served as a founding engineer and a senior engineer for various startups, according to his LinkedIn profile. Hardrict has also gained more than 115,000 YouTube subscribers. It’s the variety of his experience that has given him a front seat to the hiring process, Hardrict acknowledged to AFROTECH™. “As an engineer and startup operator, I saw how often incredible people were filtered out before anyone spoke to them. As an investor, I saw founders struggling to identify key talent in a sea of resumes,” he said. Hardrict also considered his own experience in the job market and noticed that being seen, not just read about, set him up for success. “Recruiters would watch my videos on YouTube, and within a few minutes, they understood who I was and how I thought. That made me...
Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland are once again investing in Houston, TX, the city that shaped their careers. The duo has found continued success beyond their involvement in Destiny’s Child, originally named Girl’s Tyme. Beyoncé is a Houston native and spent most of her childhood in the city’s Third Ward, the Houston Chronicle reports. Rowland is an Atlanta, GA native, but has credited Houston as the city that changed her life both personally and professionally in a previous interview with AFROTECH™. “It was a city that grew me up. I always say Atlanta-born me. Houston raised me. Houston raised me with Southern values. Houston raised me to be proud of my Blackness as well,” Rowland said. Now the pair are giving back to the city by investing in an $8.4 million permanent housing project called the Knowles-Rowland House, BET reports. The 31-unit project will support those experiencing homelessness. Additionally, it will offer social services, including case management, mental health...
Byron Allen is now an investor in Starz. Allen is a serial investor and businessman with an extensive portfolio that includes The Weather Channel. He acquired the company for $300 million in 2018 through his company, Entertainment Studios, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. Allen also owns TheGrio, a media company covering breaking news, politics, lifestyle, and entertainment centered on the Black community, according to its website. Per information on Allen Media Group’s website, Allen has one of the largest cable network portfolios in the industry, which includes Comedy.Tv, Cars.TV, ES.TV, JusticeCentral.TV, MyDestination.TV, Pets.TV, Recipe.TV, Local Now, and more. AOL also reports that Allen owns 27 broadcast television stations affiliated with ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox across 21 U.S. markets, while his television networks collectively reach nearly 300 million subscribers. In 2025, Allen sold 10 local TV stations to Gray Media for $171 million, according to Deadline. Starz Allen is...
Morris Brown College has been awarded new funding to support its hospitality management program. The Historically Black College and University (HBCU) is currently led by Dr. Kevin James, who, in a conversation with Atlanta News First, joked that he had recently taken a five-day vacation. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, in January the college’s Board of Trustees removed James from his post as president “without providing specific cause or substantive explanation,” he said in a post on LinkedIn. He was reinstated on Jan. 20, 2026, and the board acknowledged that it had not complied with the procedural and contractual requirements outlined in James’ employment agreement, which has him under contract until 2029, according to his post. “We are back. We are pushing forward, and we’re very, very excited,” James told Atlanta News First. He aims for the college to become a top institution and describes the school’s era as a “hard reset,” according to the outlet. The college was recently...
The Education Department will have to reconsider discontinued mental health grants. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the Education Department cut more than 200 mental health grants totaling $1 billion in 2025 that supported recipients’ diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in hiring, recruitment, training, and certification practices. The department said in a news release the discontinued grants favored “ the racial characteristics of providers and divisive ideologies, instead of focusing on competent provision of proven mental health interventions for students.” The funding had been funneled through the department’s Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program (MHSP) and its School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program (SBMH), per the news release. Several districts sued the Education Department over the discontinuation of the grants. This was reflected in the “Washington v. U.S. Department of Education” case, which addressed mental health funding...
A $5 billion entertainment district in Atlanta has received financial backing from powerhouses across sectors. Centennial Yards Years in the making, Centennial Yards is an ambitious project led by the Los Angeles-based CIM Group. The project is expected to cost at least $5 billion, and developers see it as an opportunity to revitalize the Atlanta area ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. In 2018, the city council greenlit a $1.9 billion incentive plan for the project, which put entertainment and high-end apartments and hotels at the forefront. The project plans reserved 20% of new residential units for affordable housing, though the developer could pay an in lieu fee of about $140,000 per unit to forgo this requirement. Per the outlet, CIM opted to pay the in lieu fee of approximately $8.5 million for its first apartment tower, The Mitchell. Still, the developer says they are “ dedicated to fulfilling our commitment to provide affordable...
Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star Donovan Mitchell wants to make wellness more accessible to families. WellWithAll Mitchell told AFROTECH™ he is intentional about making moves that will last beyond his playing days. Generational wellness is part of his long-term strategy, and he aims to invest in “real, accessible tools and resources that help families take control of their health every day.” According to a press release shared with AFROTECH™, Mitchell is aligning himself with WellWithAll, a wellness brand co-founded by Demond Martin and Carmichael Roberts. Per the company’s website, WellWithAll is a black-owned and offers supplements and energy drinks. According to Cuisine Noir, its energy drinks contain 45 calories and 80 milligrams of natural caffeine for energy. The brand can also be found at retailers such as Walmart, Target, and Fruitful Yield Health Foods, according to its website. What’s more, 20% of WellWithAll’s profits are allocated to health equity initiatives, notes Cuisine...
Jozy Altidore is expanding his sports portfolio. The former soccer player is now an investor in the Oklahoma City United Soccer League team, which will relaunch in 2028, according to Sportico. Altidore is investing in the team alongside his longtime business partner Alex Lee, who joins NBA player Russell Westbrook on a cap table led by financial firm Echo and its founding partner and CEO, Christian Kanady. “We are thrilled to welcome Jozy Altidore and Alex Lee to the OKC for Soccer family. Jozy brings something you cannot manufacture: world-class credibility, a player’s understanding of what it takes to develop talent, and the ability to inspire the next generation from the locker room to the boardroom. Alex brings a builder mindset that can translate expertise into repeatable results. Together, they represent the next generation of sports ownership: strategic, technical, and deeply operational,” said Christian Kanady, founding partner and CEO of Echo, according to a statement...
Reload has secured new funding to launch its first AI employee. Reload is an AI workforce management platform co-founded by Newton Asare and Kiran Das, launched with the belief that employees will serve as managers of AI teammates who will handle roles in streamlining orchestration, access management, tracking, and payments, according to a news release shared with AFROTECH™. Reload’s inaugural product is EPIC , its first AI employee. Per the release, EPIC is described as an AI solutions architect that can work with software engineers and the AI agents they have already deployed. The technology is already a verified extension in AI software, Cursor, per the news release. “Coding agents are optimized to respond to the next prompt, not to remember why decisions were made. That leads to lost context, constant re-prompting, and wasted tokens,” said Newton Asare, co-founder and CEO of Reload, in the news release. “EPIC gives coding agents the intelligence of a senior solutions architect,...
Fearless Fund is launching a microfinance fund in Ghana. Fearless Fund is an Atlanta-based venture capital firm for women of color, backed by Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, PayPal and Costco, and led by founding partner and CEO Arian Simone. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, it had been targeted with a lawsuit in 2023 regarding its mission to fund women of color entrepreneurs. The lawsuit, which was settled in 2024, was brought by legal activist Edward Blum and his organization, American Alliance for Equal Rights. It challenged a US $20,000 grant program for Black women-owned businesses that Fearless Fund operated in partnership with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Mastercard, according to the outlet. Mission Extends To Ghana The outcome was seen as a victory for Fearless Fund because the case avoided escalation to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could have had consequences for Black founders seeking funding, Simone told AFROTECH™ at the time . A year after its settlement, Fearless Fund...
Pat McGrath Labs has been fueled by nearly $30 million in financing. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the beauty company, founded by Pat McGrath, explored an asset sale on Jan. 27, with an auction scheduled for that day, which was later canceled indefinitely. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and continued operations during the restructuring process, a spokesperson told Women’s Wear Daily (WWD). The majority of this debt resulted from a loan obtained from GDA PMG Funding in April 2025, according to Business of Fashion. “During this process, the company will continue operations in the ordinary course of business while working to restructure its balance sheet and to forge a path to thrive,” the spokesperson said, according to WWD. “Pat McGrath Labs remains committed to its community, customers, partners and stakeholders as it continues delivering its signature, high-quality products and culture-defining artistry and innovation.” Retail Dive reports that Pat McGrath Labs has...