Meet 30 Black Founded Startups Selected By Google For Their New $2 Million (£1.5m) Black Founders Fund

Yesterday, Google for Startups announced the 30 tech businesses receiving grants from its $2million (approximately £1.5million) Black Founders Fund for Black-led tech startups across Europe.

With less than 0.25 percent of venture capital (VC) funding going to Black-led startups in the UK, and only 38 Black founders receiving venture capital funding in the last 10 years, Google for Startups is helping to level the playing field by helping Black founders who are disproportionately locked out of access to capital.

The Fund received close to 800 applications from Europe (of which almost 600 came from the UK) and the 30 tech startups from six countries selected to receive the Fund are set to transform a diverse range of industries including healthcare, gaming, food, education and fitness.  

The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund provides each business with up to $100,000 in non-dilutive cash awards – meaning that unlike most investments, founders are not giving up any ownership in their company. The funds will be distributed by OneTech, a London based organisation supporting underrepresented founders. 

Each of the selected startups also receive up to $220,000 in Google Ad Grants and Cloud credits; as well as an acceleration programme that includes leadership training, workshops, mentoring and access to a community of fellow founders with an “Ask me anything” support network. 

To be eligible for application, all startups were required to have one or more founders that self-identify as Black and the startup must already have a product in the market. 

The 30 startups to receive the Fund are as follows: 

  • Rachael Corson & Joycelyn Mate, Afrocenchix (UK): safe and effective products for afro & curly hair
  • Christian Facey & Wilfrid Obeng, AudioMob (UK): provision of non-intrusive audio ads in games
  • Favour Mandanji Nyikosa, Augmize (UK): claims, risk and policy management
  • Nicholas Kelly, Axela Innovations (UK): data-enhanced healthcare 
  • Deborah Choi, Bosque (Germany): direct-to-consumer plant business 
  • Tomide Adesanmi, Circuit Mind (UK): AI that designs electronics
  • Marie Assé & Karim Edson Bakoumé , Clustdoc (France): smart customer onboarding software
  • Tai Alegbe, Contingent (UK): AI platform which predicts, monitors and manages supplier risk
  • Nnamdi Emelifeonwu, Define (UK): Legal technology optimising contract drafting and reviewing
  • Danielle Lawrence, Freyda (UK): SaaS platform automating manual data entry and simplifying workflows
  • Bruno Mendes Da Silva, Heex Technologies (France): SDK for embedded architectures, APIs and a web platform
  • Kenny Alegbe, HomeHero (UK): an operating system for the home
  • Sait Cham, Hutch Logistics (UK): fulfilment and operating system for ecommerce brands
  • Keano Chang, iknowa (UK): Connecting property owners with tradespeople 
  • Cynthia Wandia, Kwara (Germany): digitises the world’s financial cooperatives 
  • Michael Musandu, Lalaland (Netherlands): using AI to create synthetic humans for fashion ecommerce brands
  • Nancy de Fays, Line (Belgium): hybrid cloud SaaS for creative pros
  • Elizabeth Nyeko, Modularity Grid (UK): AI platform that makes energy systems resilient
  • Charles Sekwalor & Oyin Solebo, Movemeback (UK): connecting hidden opportunities & talent in Africa
  • Erika Brodnock, Kami (Optimum Health) (UK): virtual support system for parents
  • Tolulope Ogunsina, Playbrush (Austria): digitising oral health care 
  • Ben Camara, Remote Coach (UK) digitising personal training 
  • Richard Robinson, Robin AI (UK): using AI to automate editing legal contracts
  • Ismail Jeilani, Scoodle (UK): a platform for education influencers
  • Ivan Beckley, Suvera (UK): virtual support service for long-term care
  • Chantelle Bell, Syrona Health (UK): digital health company
  • Jack-Hermann Ntoko & Jean-Cedric Bekale, TradeIn (France): a collaborative trade risk management platform
  • Clifford Ondara, Vanilla Steel (Germany): a digital auctions platform for excess steel
  • Anthea Marie Stephenson, Wild Radish (UK): delivering a consumer-facing cook-at-home service
  • Stephanie Nenta Mbianda, Xtramile (France): delivering one-click job ads 

Rachael Palmer, Head of VC and Startup Partnerships in EMEA at Google said: “We received an incredible amount of high-calibre applications. The recipients are all leaders in their fields and represent an exciting, diverse future of European tech. 

“To receive close to 800 quality applications proves there is not a pipeline problem in tech. There are many innovative Black-led businesses that would significantly benefit from better access to early-stage funding. For these startups to succeed, we need to see a wider commitment to change from the entire startup ecosystem.”

Marta Krupinska, Head of Google for Startups UK said: “The Black Founders Fund cements Google for Startups’ commitment to levelling the playing field for founders. While supporting underrepresented founders has been core to the community and support programs at Google for Startups since 2016, it’s so critical that we are now able to contribute funding as well as programming for a community who have consistently been over-mentored yet underfunded.  I really hope that the rest of the ecosystem will take note of these excellent founders and follow suit.”

This article is part of a series featuring underrepresented people making a difference. To submit ideas for features or keep up to date with new releases you can find me on Twitter – @TommyPF91



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