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“It’s our responsibility to remind people that this isn’t charity… this isn’t philanthropic.” Candice Matthews-Brackeen joins Will Lucas on the latest episode of AfroTech’s Black Tech, Green Money podcast to educate listeners on how to capitalize on this current moment in the venture capital space where investors are finally understanding the importance of investing in Black startups. Matthews-Brackeen is the General Partner of Lightship Capital, a Cincinnati-based venture capital fund that works to support underrepresented, early-stage, transformational businesses. During this episode, she reminds us that “it’s everyone’s responsibility to make sure that these good stories are being told.” She also says that for her and the team, it’s important “that we’re highlighting great founders doing great things.” “I have the weight of the world on my shoulders and I feel that it’s my responsibility to deliver a win,” said Matthews-Brackeen when asked about the challenges she faces as a...
A little-known coffee shop is receiving big-name patronage. Kopi Kenangan has just nabbed celebrity investors as a part of its venture capital efforts. The Indonesian coffee chain recently received backing from NBA player, Caris LeVert, Serena Williams’ Serena Ventures, Jay-Z’s Arrive, and Sweetgreen CEO, Jonathan Neman, according to Line Today. Edward Tirtanata, James Prananto, and Cynthia Chaerunnisa, the founders of Kopi Kenangan, established the company two years ago, to provide a middle ground between lower-end and more expensive coffee . Apparently, they have found that sweet spot. According to TechCrunch, the company raised $20 million through a Series A funding round earlier this year; the new, undisclosed investments increase the total yield. The funds will be used for expansion and for further technological development. The chain will add several new local stores and kiosks, and is expected to capture an overseas market by 2020. Its use of technology currently facilitates...
While Los Angeles has long been known as a prime locale for seed funding, the latest financial trends reveal that times are changing. Tinseltown is now becoming a place for startups to pursue more expansive venture capital funding , a distinction previously unique to the San Francisco Bay Area. A look at performance statistics of LA venture capitalists offers some insight. California early-stage funder Amplify notes that within the last decade, LA startups have raised more than $35 billion , ranking second only to their Silicon Valley counterparts in a 10-year U.S. venture capital funding overview. According to Pitchbook, Los Angeles funders have now raised approximately $12 billion in venture capital from 627 funding efforts in 2019 , landing fifth place in national ranking. Pitchbook noted one of the reasons for the emerging trend. “Until recently, the city’s venture capitalists have been best known for seed rounds in a region that is home to only a few large firms. However, the...
Italee Lucas is a former North Carolina Tarheel Women’s Basketball player, and she was also the 21st pick by the Tulsa Shock in the 2011 WNBA draft. She now plays overseas for the Angolan Women’s National Basketball team. Lucas has quite a few accolades under her belt, but now she can also add successful investor to that list. I was fortunate enough to spend some time talking with her to understand how she began investing and what she has learned about the process by working with the experts. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. AfroTech: When you were drafted into the WNBA, did they have anything in place to teach rookies about personal finance? Italee Lucas: They didn’t, and that’s one of the things I’m even talking to my agent about now. I did end up changing agents three times, and I think it’s important for the agents, especially for the women, coming out to be partnered with either a financial advisor or some type of additional capitalist. When I first came...
Morgan Stanley recently released a study called “ The Trillion-Dollar Blindspot” showing that trillions of dollars are left on the table by venture capital (VC) firms who won’t invest in women and minority founders. “I think it’s important that people start to think to themselves that we could be in fact cheating our LPs if we don’t give ourselves full access to all of the opportunities that are out there,” Carla Harris, vice chairman at Morgan Stanley told Bloomberg’s Alix Steel on “Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas.” The report shows that only 17 percent and 18 percent of investors say they “very frequently” review startups and businesses led by women and minorities, respectively. “When VCs are thinking about investing they say ‘no’ in most cases to women and multicultural entrepreneurs is because the product or the process or the opportunity doesn’t fit,” Harris said. The study reports 46 percent of investors said traditional business sectors were a compelling factor when assessing a...
Drafting and pitching your idea can be a daunting task because there is no standard format or how-to for communicating your idea to investors. The goal is to quickly capture the interest of your audience and convince them that your idea is worth investing in. Here are some pro tips to effectively communicate your idea: Put Your Startup’s Data Into Context Sure, numbers don’t lie, but if investors don’t know or understand what your data means, they probably won’t grasp how great your idea is. For example, when presenting the iPod to an audience, Steve Jobs didn’t mention gigabytes. Instead, he simply said the iPod could hold 1,000 songs. When drafting your pitch, be sure to make the data practical to give investors a natural and simplified understanding. Mesh Storytelling and Problem-solving Have your pitch flow by explaining the problem your idea solves via telling a story of why you decided to launch your startup. It’s not a bad idea to start your pitch with a captivating story...
Most people know Chamillionaire from his 2006 hit “Ridin’,” which snagged him a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. What they may not know is that Chamillionaire also has a keen interest in the tech industry. Now, he’s looking to invest $25,000 in a startup founded and managed by a woman or person of color. For this venture, Chamillionaire teamed up with E-40 and the portfolio company Republic . Chamillionaire originally made the announcement on his Instagram last week. “I’ve been in this tech industry for a while and I’ve been seeing a lot of people out here trying to raise capital and a lot of time it just doesn’t go to people of color or women,” he recently told Yahoo Finance. View this post on Instagram A post shared by @chamillionaire It’s definitely true that women and people of color have a harder time getting funding for their projects. In particular, Project Diane found that Black women have raised .0006 percent of the $424.7 billion in total tech venture...
Serena Williams is no stranger to the tech world and now it seems she’s focusing on strengthening her relationship with one app in particular. Today, Bumble announced that Williams will join Bumble Fund as an investor. Launched in 2018, Bumble Fund helps women of color and other underrepresented groups who are largely ignored in venture capitalism. Bumble Fund focuses on giving businesses early-stage investments. Although Bumble originally launched as an online-dating app that was unique for only allowing women to send the first message to a match, Bumble Fund is another example of how they’ve branched into other ventures. In a statement about the new partnership, Williams said: “I’ve learned how impactful one woman’s voice can be when given a platform to speak and be heard. I am passionate about building on this progress and opening doors for women of all backgrounds, especially women of color, to share their message and trust in their potential to accomplish great things. By...
Arlan Hamilton isn’t new to supporting underrepresented founders. Whether that means women, people of color or LGBTQ founders, Hamilton (founder of Backstage Capital) and her team have been there. So it comes as no surprise that they were able to bring their “It’s about damn time” fund to life. At the United State of Women Summit, Hamilton announced that Backstage Capital launched a $36 million fund that will invest in black women founders, $1 million at a time. They’re calling it a “diversity fund.” I’m calling it an IT’S ABOUT DAMN TIME fund. — Arlan ?? (@ArlanWasHere) May 6, 2018 “This has been in the works for several months,” says Hamilton in an exclusive email to AfroTech. “It had a few iterations, but in the last couple of months, I made the decision that the money would go to funding black women specifically and $1 million at a time, specifically. It was very intentional and something that … I knew would probably get pushback from some people, but I have the greatest...