From our Winter 2017 edition of The Network Journal, below is a compilation of Black founders, funders and angel investors you should know.
company. After a $2.5 million series seed
funding round led by Newark Venture
Partners, Claim it! launched a new version
of its app for “free stuff” via the Apple App
store.
William Adams (will.i.am), STEM-education
advocate, i.am.angel Foundation.
Multi-faceted entertainer; frontman for The
Black Eyed Peas.
Kwame Anku, founding principal, Black
Angel Tech Fund, a startup, tech fund for
Black Stanford University students funded
by alumni.
Troy Carter, global head of creator services,
Spotify, the music, podcast and video
streaming service.
Kesha Cash, founder/general partner,
Impact America Fund, a private-equity
and venture-capital firm specializing in
early-stage investments in health and wellness,
education, essential services and
financial inclusion. It prefers to invest in
businesses run by minorities in low-income
neighborhoods.
McKeever E. Conwell II, portfolio manager/
deal-team coordinator, Maryland
Technology Development Corporation
(TEDCO). As a member of the seed-investment
team, he helps to source, evaluate
and make investment decisions in earlystage
technology companies in Maryland.
Manager, Minority Business Pre-seed Fund
that makes investments of up to $40,000.
Valerie Mosley, chairman/CEO, Valmo
Ventures, which creates, collaborates with
and invests in companies, assets and efforts
that have significant potential to grow, profit
and add value to society. Previously partner/
senior vice president/investment strategist
at Wellington Management Co. L.L.P., an
$800-billion, global, money-management
firm.
E. Scott Morris, senior footwear creative
director, Designer ESM. Previously senior
creative director of footwear design, Under
Armour, and design manager, Nike Inc.
Janice Omadeke, founder/CEO, The
Mentor Method, a Washington, D.C. startup
to create inclusive workplace cultures
through mentoring diverse tech talent.
Adeleke Omitowoju, early-stage venture
strategist; co-founder, Ghost Note, a
communications and development agency
in Washington, D.C., leading its diversityin-
technology initiative (Technoir) that raises
funds to help seed early-stage startups.
Shauntel Poulson, co-founder/partner,
Reach Capital, a Silicon Valley, early-stage
investor in education-technology startups
that create access and opportunity for
kindergarten through 12th grade students.
David H. Rice, president, Design
Communications Inc. (DesignCom);
founder/chair, Organization of Black
Designers, which currently numbers 8,700
members nationally and lists a database of
more than 48,000 African-American
designers. OBD produces DesigNation, the
only national conference for designers that
promotes diversity throughout the entirety
of design professions.
Angel Rich, founder/CEO, The Wealth
Factory Inc., designer of financial literacy
and workforce development education
technology games; co-founder,
Creditstacker, a credit reporting and scoring
app to help students better understand
how to use credit wisely. It’s the only
mobile credit game on Google Play and IOS
for free.
Rodney Sampson, founder/CEO, Opportunity
Hub, an inclusive tech and startup
ecosystem building in Atlanta offering coworking
and office space, intense entrepreneurship,
coding and investment training
and programming, a pre-accelerator and
incubator.
Aaron Saunders, award-winning tech
entrepreneur whose companies include
Clearly Innovative, a mobile app agency;
Luma Lab, a tech and entrepreneurship
education program; In3, the nation’s first
“inclusive innovation incubator;” and
KissIntel, a dating, relationship-management
and romance-enhancement mobile
app.
Chief Warrant Officer (CWO-5) Valencia
Simmons-Fowler, technical specialist,
U.S. Navy, the first African-American
woman to achieve the highest chief warrant
officer rank in the information warfare
Thomas Stovall, founder, Imblackintech
Membership Network, a global membership
organization for Black and Latinx
founders of emerging tech startups and technology
professionals.
Stefanie A. Thomas, senior associate,
Impact America Fund; hailed as a voice of
“Black Women VCs” (Fast Company) who
work at the intersection of founder diversity,
technology for impact and the deployment
of capital within untapped markets.
Aaron Walker, founder/CEO, Camelback
Ventures, a nonprofit, social-venture fellowship
and seed fund using donations provided
by various foundations, corporations
and individuals to make investments in
promising ventures by entrepreneurs who
are from communities of color, female or
immigrants.
Denmark West, partner, Connectivity
Capital Partners L.L.C., an advisory firm
providing venture capital, technology,
investment banking and recruiting services;
chief investment officer, Connectivity
Ventures Fund, which was launched by the
principals of Connectivity Capital Partners.
Aniyia L. Williams, founder/CEO, Tinsel,
which creates tech jewelry for women,
including an audio necklace that has the full
functionality of headphones; founder/executive
director, Black & Brown Founders,
which aims to provide Black and Latinx
founders resources and networks for starting
companies without relying on venture
capital.
