In 2018, our team delivered 234 newsletters with over 1,500 stories highlighting Black and brown narratives in tech and beyond.
We witnessed a record number of incubators, venture capital funds, and accelerators, uniquely designed to support Black founders by addressing longstanding racial disparities. From a new wave of tech conferences to the dozens of coworking spaces serving as safe spaces for Black entrepreneurs, we’re honored to recognize the key players and emerging founders who are serving our communities through impactful tech, ultimately challenging the status quo.
ThePLUG is dedicated to sharing stories that pinpoint Black ingenuity and innovation without sacrificing quality. This list covers 105 of the most-read stories from our daily newsletter.
Thank you for giving us 234 opportunities to amplify voices that have been historically ignored, but not silenced. You are the PLUG.
January
Essence Ventures Announces Acquisition of Essence Comm from Time Inc.
Wonderschool Gets $2.1M to Bring its Early Childhood Programs to New York City
Nyansa Lands $15M to Grow User Performance Management
Will Packer Media Acquires Women’s Lifestyle Site xoNecole
NASA Strikes Deal with Howard University to Hire More Black Astronomers
February
This Engineer Recreated Black History Artifacts in a Groundbreaking 3-D Installation
Amazon Launches ‘Textures & Hues’ Storefront Inspired by Women of Color
Google Expands Howard West to Train More Computer Science Majors Through Intensive Coding
Sixty-Two Black Women in VC You Should Know
Appolition is Collecting Nearly $2K Daily to Fix America’s Troubled Bail System
Meet the Graduates of Founder Gym’s Inaugural Cohort
BLM Cofounder Launches Census Project Surveying 200,000 Black Americans
March
Inside Steve Stoute’s New Artist-First Music Startup
How These Black Founders Are Building Startups Without Investors
Low-Income Communities Are Building Their Own Internet Networks
Nordstrom Acquires Retail Technology Company MessageYes
Snoop Dogg’s Venture Firm Just Closed its Debut Fund with $45 Million
Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and First Round Capital Invest $3 million in Bail Reform Startup Promise
Harlem Capital Wants to Fund 1,000 Founders Of Color
Color Farm Media Uses Blockchain To Defy Hollywood Stereotypes
A Historic Home, Rebooted as an Incubator for Women of Color Who Code
Google Has a Striking History of Bias Against Black Girls
26 Women of Color Diversifying Entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley, Media, and Beyond
The $80 Billion Reason Why John Legend is Backing Startups Led by Former Inmates
April
Shear Share Named Co-Winner in Google Demo Day, Secures $250K Investment
Scholly Announces Fund for Howard University Students Impacted By Embezzlement Scandal
An Open Letter to Facebook from the Data for Black Lives Movement
Code2040’s Laura Weidman Powers Is Stepping Down As CEO
This Founder is Raising $1M to Alert Your Emergency Contacts When You Get Pulled Over
35 Latina Tech Founders Who Raised $1 Million in Funding
PopCom Founder Dawn Dickson Details Her Company’s Initial Coin Offerings
Aniyia Williams Was Awarded Her First Patent and Now Wants More Founders of Color to Build Hardware
Green Bits, the “Square for Cannabis,” Raised $17M with Snoop Dogg’s VC Firm Backing
Black Tech Week Founders Open Coworking Space for Entrepreneurs and Tech Training
F4’s Investment Model Index Aims to Remove Bias from Venture Capital by 2020
May
The Next Mark Zuckerberg is at a Historically Black College
Pras to Introduce Blockchain Tech-Initiative in Pittsburgh
Beyoncé Is Using Artificial Intelligence To Help You Eat Vegan
BLKTECHCLT Receives $15,000 Grant to Expand Entrepreneur Pilot Program
NASA Shut Down Racist Trolls Targeting Teen Engineers in Tech Competition
National Urban League Examines Tech Gap in State of Black America Report
A $36 Million Fund for Black Women founders? ‘It’s About Damn Time’
This AI-Powered Platform Raised $1.8 million to Identify Voices in Noisy Environments
The Most Enticing Feature at MoviePass is Hurting the Company’s Bottom Line
Apartment Furnishing Startup Nickson Wins $100,00 at Rise of the Rest Competition
Tech’s Race Problem Beyond the Numbers
Debt Payment Startup Qoins Wins the Nation’s Largest Fintech Prize
Few Edtech Companies Able or Willing to Share Stats on Racial Diversity
59 Black Female Executives Explore Intersectional Invisibility and Strategies to Overcome It
AppDynamics Founder Launches $160M Seed-Stage Fund, Partners with HBCUs
The Harvard Undergrad Fixing Finance
Handshake’s Guide to the Top Diversity & Inclusion Conferences of 2018
Mented Cosmetics Raises $3M, Highlighting Opportunity For Multicultural Makeup Brands
Cincinnati Startup ConnXus Lands $2 Million in Venture Capital FundingI
June
PlayVS Secures $15 Million in Series A with the 49ers and Nas Participating
Patreon Acquires Kit to Automate its Merch Tools for Members
Arlan Hamilton’s Backstage Capital Has Invested in 100 Startups with Underrepresented Founders
LendStreet Raises $7M in Series A + $110M in Debt Financing to Scale Consumer Debt
Bozoma Saint John is leaving Uber for Endeavor
Akon is Launching His Own Cryptocurrency
Blavity Cofounder Announces His Departure
Black Girls Code Has a New Lab Inside Google’s New York Office
TEDCO’s Pre-Seed Builder Fund Will Offer $50k to Underserved Founders
July
Richelieu Dennis Officially Launches $100M New Voices Fund Supporting WOC Entrepreneurs
Richmond Woman Makes History as First Black Female Nanoscientist in the StateI
Miami-based Facial Recognition Software Startup To Raise New Funding, Inks Acquisition
‘Black & Brown Founders’ Launch Tech Conference In Philadelphia
This VR Founder Wants to Gamify Empathy to Reduce Racial Bias
August
Reach Capital’s Newest Education Technology Investment Fund Closes at $82 Million
Digital Paint Buying Startup Clare Raised $2 Million
Shaq Backs Atlanta-Based Gig Workforce Assistance Startup’s $9 Million Series A
New Collaborative Report Examines the State of Women and Girls of Color in Computing
Meet 105 Black & Latino Founders Who Raised $1mm+ in VC Funding
Top Tech Firms are Meeting with HBCUs to Create Partnerships
Wonderschool Raises $20M to Help People Start In-Home Preschools
Kevin Durant, Will Smith Top the Lineup for a New Venture-Capital Fund for Black Investors
On-Demand Food Waste Startup Goodr Closes $1.25M
The State of Black Women Getting Funding in 2018
NBA Star Andre Iguodala is Turning More Players Into Tech Investors
This FAMU Student Developed Audio Processing Algorithms to Detect Fraud
Verna Myers Appointed to Executive Position Focused on Inclusion and Diversity at Netflix
Cleo Capital Sets $10M Target to Fund Female Entrepreneurs
Announcing Paystack’s $8 million Series A Round
September
Backstage Capital to Launch an Accelerator in Four Cities to Promote Underrepresented Founders
Microsoft Joins Forces with Backstage Capital and Black & Brown Founders
This Interior Designer Turned Startup Founder Raised $2M to Revamp the Paint Industry
Base 10’s Debut Fund is the Largest Ever for a Black-Led VC Firm
October
GitHub’s Brand Campaign Highlights Black Female Founders in an Optimistic Look At Technology
Disney Invests in Renewable Power Company, Uncharted Power
Miami-Based Facial Recognition Company Kairos Sues Former CEO
Intel Reports More Women and African-Americans In Its Workforce After Diversity Push
Can Civic Technology Work in an Era of Incivility?
November
Robotic Pizza Empire Zume, Co-Founded by Julia Collins Hits $2.25B Valuation
God-is Rivera Joins Twitter as Global Director of Culture and Community
Mayvenn Secures $23M in Funding Led by Essence Ventures
Kairos Founder Countersues His Own Company for $10 Million
PlayVS Opens the Door to a $30M Series B
This Former History Teacher Provides VR Field Trips for Children in Low-Income Communities
The World Needed a New Biodegradable Plastic—We Discovered One at Tuskegee University
December
Birmingham Startup Mixtroz Hits $1 Million in Funding
This AI Rounder Built the First Alexa Skill for On-Demand Therapy
Backstage Capital-Backed CapWay Moves to ATL Expanding its Digital Banking Offerings
Pindrop Raised $90M in Series D
Tristian Walker Announces Procter & Gamble’s Acquisition of Walker & Company
