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Black Techies Coming Up And Taking Over

Black Techies Coming Up And Taking Over

Issa Rae Black founders
Black founders will ensure that inequities that persist in society do not become deeply embroiled into tech as well. Issa Rae (left) is pictured at the TV Critics Association Summer Press Tour, July 24, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP). Angela Benton photo courtesy of Angela Benton. Image by Autumn Keiko
  • Black-owned techies are the talk of the town right now with recent funding news
  • Figgers Communications is the only Black-owned telecommunications company in America that produces its own device

Issa Rae’s recent investment in Streamlytics, a Black-led tech company, pushed an important conversation about Blacks in tech or the general lack thereof. The proportion of Blacks employed in the tech industry has grown over the last decade, but there are still significant disparities in terms of employment, fundraising, founding, and general access for Blacks in tech. 

Why This Matters: Over $100 billion dollars in venture funding was spent in 2018 alone, with a lions share going to tech companies. Just the mobile app industry generated over $71 billion dollars in 2018, which demonstrates that Blacks cannot afford to be left out as the tech industry progresses. 

Black-led Katika is a platform that connects users to Black-owned products and services anywhere in the world

Figgers Communications is the only Black-owned telecommunications company in America that produces its own device, the latest being the 128 GB, 5G capable F3 phone. Black-led Katika is a platform that connects users to Black-owned products and services anywhere in the world, while Liberate is the only app that focuses on healing the Black community through meditation. Drop, led by HBCU-grad Russell Ladson, is an immersive internet searching and virtual reality platform backed by tech giants such as HTC. These companies demonstrate the breadth of innovation Black-led tech in bringing to hardware, software, and app markets.

Situational Awareness: Our lives are now driven by technology, as evidenced by the dollars invested in tech companies and the advent of new technologies. Inclusive tech, and tech led by Black founders will ensure that inequities that persist in our society do not become deeply embroiled into our technology as well.

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This article was written by Nile for CultureBanx. Read the original.