Kunbi Tinuoye, a force to be reckoned with in the world of technology and entrepreneurship, is furthering her mission to support women and people of color in the tech industry. As the founder of UrbanGeekz, she has dedicated herself to increasing diversity in tech and entrepreneurship spaces, and now, she’s taking it a step further by launching Geekz Ventures, a new accelerator for underrepresented founders.
Geekz Ventures is a collaborative effort between Tinuoye and the Techstars Foundation, which shares her goal of empowering early-stage founders from underrepresented backgrounds. The accelerator will offer the tools and resources necessary to help women and people of color launch, sustain, and scale their tech-enabled startups. Tinuoye’s focus on supporting these demographics is an essential step towards creating a more inclusive and diverse tech landscape.
Kunbi Tinuoye has firsthand experience of the unique challenges faced by Black and Latinx founders, especially when it comes to raising capital. She is determined to share her networks, knowledge, and resources to help them succeed. As she states, “I want to give overlooked talent the tools to achieve profitability, outside investment, and technology to help them in the early stages of launching their startup.”
Tinuoye’s commitment to this cause is evident in her previous work, both through UrbanGeekz and her involvement in local community initiatives. She has volunteered as a lead startup mentor for The Farm, a Comcast NBCUniversal-powered accelerator program based in Atlanta. Additionally, she has hosted numerous workshops for It Takes A Village, a pre-accelerator program designed to support startups led by women and people of color.
With her wealth of experience, Tinuoye is well-positioned to make a significant impact in the lives of underrepresented founders. She understands the importance of offering the right resources, connections, and mentorship to give these talented individuals the best chance of success. As she explains, “I have a wealth of experience supporting early-stage founders through my work at UrbanGeekz and volunteering in the local community.”
The launch of Geekz Ventures signals a new era of support for women and people of color in the tech industry. With the backing of the Techstars Foundation, this accelerator is poised to make a significant difference in the lives of early-stage founders from underrepresented backgrounds. The collaboration between Kunbi Tinuoye and the Techstars Foundation is a perfect match, as both parties are dedicated to the same mission of fostering diversity and inclusivity in the tech world.
- The 10 startups participating in the first Geekz Ventures cohort are:
- 1. Hayti: Hailing from North Carolina, Hayti is the largest Black-owned app that aggregates digital content from newspapers, magazines, videos, and podcasts highlighting content from Black content creators around the world. Founded by Cary Wheelous, Hayti is the first mobile app to feature over 200+ Black publishers and over 1,000 Black Podcasters on both Android and iOS.
- 2. Animteam: Founded by Victor Williamson, Animteam is the first collaborative editing app for traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation. Animators can paint digitally, animate on a timeline, and collaborate in real-time on their animated projects.
- 3. visuEats: Founded by Sophronia McKenzie, visuEats is a restaurant web and mobile app that provides photo and video menus creating an interactive and personalized dining experience. visuEats’ turnkey solution offers the restaurant industry a digital menu with reservations, online ordering, and delivery within one platform.
- 4. InColorStock: InColorStock’s membership-based model enables photographers to directly showcase their work to brands and companies looking to license racially diverse and culturally accurate stock content that gets it right. InColorStock is founded by veteran journalist and producer Claritza Jimenez.
- 5. Lyricster: Founded by Summer “Soulstress Williams, Lyricster is a collaboration matching app and social network for music creators. They are the solution to organic discovery, networking, and relationship building for songwriters, producers, and composers around the world.
- 6. Spawnn: Spawnn is an AI highlight reel detection and data analysis platform for gamers. By finding gamers’ most viral moments, we are focused on building for the over 1 billion people that watch video gaming content every day. Spawnn is the brainchild of the University of Southern California grads Buchi Obi and Will Hollingsworth
- 7. ALIVE Podcast Network: Consider us the black Spotify for podcasts. We educate our hosts and entertain our listeners all while building a robust interface to interact and engage with the hosts you love. They’re the media tech company that’s helping black content creators monetize their content, and amplify their voice, all while maintaining ownership of their IP. ALIVE Podcast Network is founded by Angel Livas.
- 8. Seed At The Table: Seed At The Table is a tech-enabled Financial Ecosystem operating as an LLC (not a fund) that’s committed to providing its community of diverse professionals and entrepreneurs with equitable access to capital, opportunity, and resources. Seed At The Table LLC, provides three primary solutions in the form of access to a resource-rich and affinity-aligned network, financial literacy education, and capital access. Founder Pierre Le Veaux is the brains behind the brand.
- 9. The Barter Shop: Founded by Shanice Brown, The Barter Shop mobile app is a revolutionary marketplace that empowers small businesses and individuals to thrive in times of need. The Barter Shop platform allows users to exchange services without the need for money, creating a micro-economy that is community-focused and inclusive.
- 10. PrimoStats: Founded by Shayla Price , PrimoStats is a searchable database of curated marketing statistics. The platform helps content marketers find and cite relevant statistics to add credibility to their content. That way, content marketers can work smarter, not harder.
By creating opportunities for women and people of color to thrive in the tech industry, Kunbi Tinuoye and Geekz Ventures are breaking down barriers and setting the stage for a more equitable future. The tech world can only benefit from the diverse perspectives and unique talents of these founders, and it is through initiatives like Geekz Ventures that we can ensure the future of the tech industry is both innovative and inclusive.
The launch of Geekz Ventures is an important milestone in the quest for increased diversity and representation in the tech industry. With the support of the Techstars Foundation and the guidance of Kunbi Tinuoye, women and people of color have a new avenue for success in the early stages of their tech-enabled startups.
