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Entrepreneur and Navy veteran Thereasa Black landed a deal on “Shark Tank.” Bon AppéSweet The Leonardtown, MD, native is the founder of Bon AppéSweet, a dessert company inspired by her daughter, Isabella. According to the company’s website, she was deployed by the military and was away from her daughter for over a year. The BayNet reported that Black was a Navy officer and in law school at the time of her deployment. On her company’s website, Black described the time as devastating and brainstormed ways to ensure she never had to leave her daughter again. When she returned, she noticed Isabella had a sweet tooth, but instead of taking desserts away, Black decided to offer healthier alternatives. This created the foundation of Bon AppéSweet, which sells sweet treats such as chocolate bars that are 100% plant-based and dairy-free, made with date-based sweeteners, no processed sugars, and zero sugar alcohols, notes the website. “Shark Tank” Black pitched the company on Season 17 of...
Hampton University could rejoin Virginia’s land-grant lineup, positioning the Historically Black College and University ( HBCU ) to regain federal funding it lost over a century ago and expand access to programs connected to agriculture, engineering, and other applied sciences. The restoration could also open up opportunities for STEM workforce training, labs, and research, HBCU Game Day reported. Sen. Mamie Locke (D-Hampton) introduced Senate Bill 274 on Jan. 13, 2026 to reinstate the school’s status and funding, and leaders from Hampton University spoke with the Virginia Senate Higher Education Subcommittee on the matter. They told the subcommittee that the school had held land-grant status from 1872 to 1920, according to the outlet. The federal government’s decision in 1920 to remove the designation rested on the belief that only one Black institution per state could hold land-grant status, leaving Virginia State University, HBCU Game Day shared. However, Hampton President...
Now is a better time than ever to bet on yourself — at least according to Joel Roache. The former mechanical engineer and now full-time content creator did just that when he applied for — and went on to become the first-ever grand prize winner of — Stan’s “Dare To Dream” Challenge in 2025, taking home $120,000. Stan Store is an all-in-one, creator-focused e-commerce platform, according to its website. For his submission video sharing his dream, Roache spotlighted his company, Creative Minds, a Christian-led retreat that brings creators together for several weeks to focus on connection — an element that has been central to his journey into content creation from the very beginning. “Creation as a whole, being a creative person and trying to pursue that over standard living, is very uncommon. It’s very, very, very lonely,” Roache shared in an interview with AFROTECH™. “So I wanted to talk about the pursuit of finding people who are more similar. It’s the one thing that I think is kind...
Former NBA player Michael Redd is now a serial investor. Redd spent 12 years playing in the NBA. Basketball Network reports he was a second-round pick in the 2000 NBA draft and became an All-Star after three seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Milwaukee Bucks, but also played for the Phoenix Suns, before officially retiring in 2011 with $101.9 million in career earnings, per Spotrac. Beyond the sport, Redd took an interest in venture capital (VC). He admitted he “was never satisfied just making it to the NBA,” a ccording to Basketball Network. “The narrative had been how much the players make in the NBA; I was intrigued by who was paying us,” Redd said, according to Columbus Business First. “Our owners were the inspiration and motivation for me. Owning a basketball franchise was just a hobby for these guys. It was an interesting world. I didn’t find too many African American men in that world.” 22 Ventures James tag-teamed with attorney John Weaver in 2019 to...
LeBron James is no stranger to making the right moves on and off the court. The Los Angeles Lakers player has been in the NBA since 2003. His imprint on the league includes four championship rings, four Finals MVP awards, becoming the all-time leading scorer, and many other accolades , according to his NBA profile. Business Pursuits Beyond The NBA Aside from his on-court success, LeBron has built a lasting legacy through his philanthropic initiatives, including the I Promise School established by his foundation in 2017, and in business as a lifetime Nike athlete and serial investor, as AFROTECH™ previously shared . It had been reported that he invested in the English Premier League’s Liverpool Football Club in 2011 alongside his business partner, Maverick Carter, securing a 2% stake in the team for $6.5 million, according to Basketball Network. However, the outlet shared that was not the case after all. Instead of paying out of pocket, the deal granted the parent company, Fenway...
NFL player Ja’Marr Chase is stepping into ownership. Flerish Hydration Flerish Hydration is a beverage company launched in the fourth quarter of 2024 that provides watermelon-based products supporting performance and recovery. Beverages are packed with electrolytes, real ingredients, and vitamins E, B6, and B12, as well as L-Theanine, Zinc, and Magnesium, as AFROTECH™ previously told you. The company was co-founded by former Division I athlete Avery Johnson Jr. and Nick Nevins, son of Bruce Nevins, who launched Perrier Water in North America. Flerish Hydration can be purchased on Amazon and TikTok Shop, and has more recently expanded to Kroger. “What started as a vision to create a better hydration solution for Gen Z and Alpha has quickly turned into a movement,” Johnson said in a post shared on LinkedIn. “ When Nicholas N. and I founded Flerish, we wanted to create a hydration product that not only delivered on functionality but also offered incredible taste. We began with familiar...
During a CES 2026 panel titled “Getting to the First Million,” Lockie Andrews, angel investor and founder of Catalyst Consulting, offered advice for how to succeed as a startup. Be Intentional With Your Customers Andrews noted that through her various roles, she has interacted with 12 companies each month. She believes one of the biggest problems for startups as they strive to hit that first $100,000 mark is a sense of desperation for their first check, which may lead them to select customers who are less likely to stay committed to the product and offer feedback as the company grows. “They end up panicking and feeling like ‘Oh wow, I completely left the zone that I was supposed to be playing in, but I need to appease these customers because investors will be looking at that performance,'” she mentioned. “So, make sure you take your time with those customers, interview them to make sure they understand where you are, to hopefully push you through all the difficulties that you’ll...
Black woman-led skincare brand Topicals has closed another round of funding, per an exclusive report from The Business of Fashion. Topicals Founded in 2020 by Olamide Ayomikun Olowe, Topicals was born out of her search for a solution for those with hyperpigmentation, eczema, and dark spots. CNBC reports Olowe also struggled with hyperpigmentation and Pseudofolliculitis Barbae (PFB). Per its website, the Topicals product lineup features its faded under eye masks, serum, brightening cleansing bar, and more. She teamed up with Claudia Teng, who previously worked as a dermatology clinical research assistant, to launch the science-backed brand, with both women ultimately ditching their plans to attend medical school. Topicals later secured $14.8 million in funding before Olowe was 26 years old — as AFROTECH™ previously reported — making history as the youngest Black woman to raise $10 million in funding in 2022. Funding Now, WNBA player Angel Reese, which Forbes lists as one of the...
Serena Williams loves investing in the future. Per Business Insider, the athlete has been investing since her tennis career through Serena Ventures. Launched in 2014, the investment arm later went public in 2019 with the aim of supporting diverse founders, especially women and people of color, per the outlet. “I’ve been investing like eight years before I finished my tennis career, or maybe even longer. I love investing in women, I love investing in underrepresented founders, and I also love investing in the future,” Williams said during CES 2026. “I’m never gonna change the landscape of people investing in us, but I definitely will change the noise and let people know that it’s great to invest in us,” she added. Williams’ session at CES was laser-focused on the health sector, particularly on wearable biotech. Williams uses Lingo, an over-the-counter glucose sensor that can be worn for 14 days and attaches to the back of the upper arm, according to its website. The sensor can send...
A vote has ruled in favor of closing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), per reports. Corporation For Public Broadcasting The CPB was established by Congress through the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 to help fund PBS, NPR, and more than 1,000 public television and radio stations with the overarching goal of informing and empowering the public, according to information on the organization’s website. CPB reported that in the 2025 fiscal year, it supported 386 radio grantees and 158 television grantees, 244 of which were described as “rural.” Furthermore, CPB shared that it directed more than 70% of its federal funding to local public media stations, with 5% allocated towards operations . Republicans Claims Against CPB As The Guardian reports , Trump and Republicans have long argued that CPB was biased. In April 2025, Trump drafted a memo to Congress, stating that NPR and PBS “spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news,'” per the outlet. Slashing funding for the...
Beauty trend setter Pat McGrath is exploring an asset sale of her beauty company. Pat McGrath Labs was founded in 2015 and launched its first product, Gold 001, a gold-pigmented mixing liquid used on eyes, lips, limbs, or lashes. It “sold out in record-breaking time” following its launch on social media, according to the brand’s website. One thousand units sold on the site in six minutes, Modaes reported. The brand is sold at retailers including Sephora, Ulta, Nordstrom, Bluemercury, Bergdorf Goodman, Harrods, Revolve, and Selfridges, notes the brand’s website. At Selfridges, it became the retailer’s best-selling beauty brand after launching in stores in April 2019. McGrath’s makeup looks have also appeared on runways for Dior, Prada, Gucci, and Balenciaga, per Pat McGrath Labs. McGrath has served as British Vogue’s beauty editor-at-large since 2017, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. In 2018, Pat McGrath Labs reached a $1 billion valuation, supported by a $60 million investment from...
Isaiah Chavous isn’t anti-AI, but he is on a mission to protect what makes art human. Chavous’s stance is reflected in his footprint as a founder, which marries his passion for music. His mother, a single parent, introduced him to soulful music as a child, but he would take it to new heights by becoming a musician, something uncommon in his family. At age 13, he was making and recording his own music. He described himself as becoming a “bit of a geek” in the band from sixth grade through high school, when he solidified his passion for music, leading him to create a brand called Wifi Kids. “I used it as a vessel to be creative, not only to make music and put out music, but to host events and make merchandise and get into fashion,” Chavous told AFROTECH™. He continued, “It also correlated to my first introduction to technical products — building websites, designing things, becoming efficient in Adobe Photoshop and Premiere. And I remember having a cracked version of all of the...
The U.S. Department of Education will be deploying a new round of mental health grants. According t o Education Week, the Education Department will distribute more than $208 million to school-based mental health programs to train and hire additional providers and psychologists. The funding follows the Trump administration’s decision in April to cut over 200 health grants, totaling $1 billion, for recipients who incorporated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments into hiring, recruitment, training, and certification practices, notes a separate Education Week article. In a news release, the Department of Education claim the grants that were discontinued prioritized “the racial characteristics of providers and divisive ideologies, instead of focusing on competent provision of proven mental health interventions for students.” Now, the Education Department has awarded a new round of grants to 65 recipients. Education Week reports that 33 of those recipients are “rural states...
Fintech platform Esusu has raised new funding to help improve financial outcomes for Americans. The company was founded in 2018 by Wemimo Abbey and Samir Goel (co-CEOs) to help people boost their credit scores. Its inspiration came from their own struggles because both grew up in immigrant families with limited financial resources. “When we came here, we didn’t have a credit score. We went to one of the biggest financial institutions to borrow money; we were turned away and had to go borrow from a predatory lender who wanted to lend at over 400% interest rate,” Abbey told CNBC, referring to his family’s experience. This inspired Esusu’s mission to help ensure race, background, or zip code is not a barrier to economic mobility. Its platform can report on-time rent payments to credit bureaus such as TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian, its website mentions. Esusu states that when more renters see their scores increase, they are more likely to remain on top of monthly payments, renew...
A newly founded AI startup is making waves in the tech world with one of the largest seed rounds in recent memory. According to Bloomberg, Unconventional AI, launched just two months ago by former Databricks AI lead Naveen Rao, secured $475 million in seed funding at a $4.5 billion valuation to develop a new generation of energy-efficient computers designed specifically for artificial intelligence. The funding round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Lux Capital, DCVC, Databricks, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, per Bloomberg. Rao also invested $10 million of his own funds on the same terms as other investors. The company is exploring a larger funding goal of up to $1 billion, according to TechCrunch. Bloomberg notes that Unconventional AI draws inspiration from biology, where living systems must operate within strict energy limits yet achieve high efficiency. Rao highlighted the human brain as an example, noting it can perform...