UrbanGeekz is a multicultural digital news platform focused on technology, business, science, and startups. It aims to highlight business, entrepreneurship, and STEM-related fields, emphasizing accessibility and appeal, especially for women and underrepresented groups.

UrbanGeekz

UrbanGeekz | 1,636 followers on LinkedIn. Making Tech More Colorful, Accessible and Diverse | UrbanGeekz is a groundbreaking online news site geared towards the African-American and Latino markets. The site offers reviews, interviews, commentary and original video content on startups, commerce, geek gadgets, social media, scientific advancements and insight on the global technology industry. The innovative digital platform also provides authoritative lifestyle and entertainment coverage.

CEO at UrbanGeekz | Showcasing Underestimated Innovators I Professional Public Speaker | Crunchbase's 25 Black Entrepreneurs Making Waves

Kunbi Tinuoye

Technology Journalist | Tech Content Writer | Content Marketing Manager

Stephen Sangolade

Experienced Editor

Emil Flemmon

BA Oxford University, MPhil Trinity College Dublin

Zara Shepherd-Brierley

New York-based BBG Ventures has raised $60 million to support women and diverse founders. The venture capital firm, founded in 2014, initially envisioned funding women-led startups. This new fund will expand the firm’s focus to support founders from diverse backgrounds across race, income, and age. Speaking on the venture capital firm’s new fundraising and new direction, Co-founder Susan Lyne told Business Insider, “This is not about abandoning women, but expanding our mandate to back a diverse founding team.” Read the UrbanGeekz story here https://lnkd.in/dfxpMVGj

Black Tech Saturdays (BTS), an organization that promotes Detroit’s Black tech entrepreneurs, has received a $1.2 million grant from the Gilbert Family Foundation. The two-year funding will strengthen BTS’s operational capacity, expand its reach, and enable Detroit’s tech innovators to access essential growth resources. Read the rest of the UrbanGeekz story here https://lnkd.in/dptXrt8c

LJ Northington, the founder of fashion tech startup Aesthetic, has announced the launch of his AI/ML algorithm, Alma. The VC-funded AI-enabled platform will make it easy for people to buy clothes that might otherwise be hard to find. The fashion concierge will help people identify and shop for clothing they sourced on social media. “Our goal is to help users save, shop, and share their fashion inspiration without having to leave their favorite social apps,” said Harvard University alum and Aesthetic CEO LJ Northington. Read the UrbanGeekz story here https://lnkd.in/ee2i5sFM

MaC Venture Capital, a seed-stage venture capital firm, has successfully raised $150 million for its third round. This latest fundraising round brings the firm’s total assets under management to $600 million, a remarkable feat for the four-year-old firm founded by Marlon Nichols, Adrian Fenty, and Mike Palank. The new funding will allow the venture capital firm to increase its investment check size to between $2 million and $3 million per startup, up from its previous average of $1.5 million in 2023. Read the rest of the UrbanGeekz story here https://lnkd.in/egnmk4mb

The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) has announced that its Entrepreneurs of Color Fund (EOCF) has surpassed its $500 million goal for small business lending nationwide, two years ahead of schedule. LISC will now expand the program to double its impact, aiming to support $1 billion in financing for underserved businesses and communities. Read the rest of the UrbanGeekz story here https://lnkd.in/eiFd6CHb

Janngo Capital, Africa’s largest gender-equal tech venture capital firm, has closed its second fund at €73 million (about $78 million). The raise was 20% oversubscribed, exceeding the initial target of €60 million (about $63 million). The firm closed the first fund at €34 million ($36.9 million) in 2022, enlisting limited partners such as the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and European Investment Bank (EIB) Read the rest of the UrbanGeekz story here https://lnkd.in/eFw3D4SR

Africa has a NEW UNICORN🦄. Here’s a back story about the company’s beginning and its CEO. Tosin Eniolorunda was the firstborn among three children in a middle-class family in Ibadan, South Western Nigeria. He attended Obafemi Awolowo University , where he studied Mechanical Engineering. Upon graduation, he got into Interswitch Group , Africa’s oldest Unicorn. However, he was dissatisfied with the company's reward mechanisms for builders. After working for a few years, he met his now co-founder, Felix Ike . They left Interswitch and launched TeamApt in 2015. They started by building software solutions for banks, such as mobile apps and other digital software. They worked with premier Nigerian banks like Sterling Bank , Unity Bank , Zenith Bank Plc , and First Bank of Nigeria Ltd. Over the years, they have built enterprise software that includes a white-labeled digital banking product (@Moneytor), enterprise software for small business management ( Monnify ), and an agency banking platform (Moniepoint). Out of the three services Moniepoint took off, it became the largest revenue driver. So, the company doubled down on agency banking. As of 2019, TechCrunch reported that they had an engineering team of 40, served 26 African banks, processed $160 million in monthly transactions, and had revenue growth of 4,500 percent over three years. Because of these impressive numbers, Quantum Capital Partners single-handedly funded TeamApt's first institutional round of $5.5 million. By 2021, TeamApt raised a Series B led by Novastar Ventures alongside other investors. In July 2022, TeamApt became QED Investors ’ first investment in Africa, and the payments company announced a pre-series C round that was believed to be over $50 million. Novastar Ventures made follow-on funding in the new round, while Lightrock and @British International Investment (BII) also participated. On January 13, 2023, TeamApt rebranded to Moniepoint, bringing all its consumer-facing products under one umbrella. Moniepoint’s popularity soared in February 2023 during the central bank's ill-fated attempt to replace Nigeria’s currency notes, which left banks unable to cope with the demand for cash. Moniepoint Group , OPay , PalmPay , and Kuda , were the fallback payment operators due to their efficient agency banking services. Currently, Moniepoint Group is Nigeria’s largest merchant acquirer and in-person payments platform. Moniepoint Group processes over 800 million transactions, with a monthly total value exceeding $17 billion. Today, Moniepoint raised $110 million in its Series C round, led by Development Partners International and other investors such as Google ’s Africa Investment Fund, Verod Capital, and Lightrock . With this latest raise, Moniepoint joins the enviable ranks of African unicorn companies such as MNT-Halan , Interswitch Group , Flutterwave , Chipper Cash , OPay , Wave Mobile Money , and Andela . Read more about Moniepoint’s raise here https://lnkd.in/egnK6VAC

Moniepoint, an African fintech startup, has gained unicorn status after securing $110 million in funding, with Google being one of the investors. Development Partners International’s African Development Partners (ADP) III fund led the Series C round. Other investors participated, including African private equity firm Verod Capital and existing investor Lightrock. Read the rest of the UrbanGeekz story here https://lnkd.in/egnK6VAC

Klasha, a Nigerian 🇳🇬 B2B payment startup, has raised $2 million in funding to drive its Asian expansion. This latest funding, backed by existing investors such as Expert Dojo, Alumni Ventures, Breega, My Asia VC, Resilience17, and Magic Fund, brings Klasha’s total funding to $6.5 million. The additional investment will fuel Klasha’s expansion initiatives in Asia, including opening a new office in Hangzhou, China, the home of Alibaba, other major e-commerce players, and PSSPs. Read the rest of the @urbangeekz story here https://lnkd.in/eDn7KcmX

Multi-award-winning actor Idris Elba, known for his powerhouse roles in The Wire and Luther, is planning bold moves to reshape the African entertainment industry. He aims to establish film studios in Ghana and Tanzania, driven by a passion for reclaiming narratives that authentically represent the continent. Read the rest of the UrbanGeekz story here https://lnkd.in/ebHvzETd

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