For the month of February, we are publishing flashback clips from some of our wonderful past episodes. Please a take some time enjoy (again) the full episodes from these founders. Season 4 of Founders Unfound starts in March! Kameale Terry is Co-Founder and CEO of ChargerHelp! , a company that enables on-demand repair of electric vehicle charging stations , a company that helps individuals coming out of code schools, land incredible jobs. Original Episode: No.15, July 2020 https://foundersunfoun...
Feb 06, 2023•54 sec
For the month of February, we are publishing flashback clips from some of our wonderful past episodes. Please a take some time enjoy (again) the full episodes from these founders. Season 4 of Founders Unfound starts in March! Stephen Ajayi is the Co-Founder and CEO of YearOne, a company that helps individuals coming out of code schools, land incredible jobs. But getting jobs for Bootcamp grads is not all they do. Original Episode: No.32, May 2021 https://foundersunfound.com/yearone-black-founder...
Feb 05, 2023•49 sec
For the month of February, we are publishing flashback clips from some of our wonderful past episodes. Please a take some time enjoy (again) the full episodes from these founders. Season 4 of Founders Unfound starts in March! Ezinne Iroanya-Adeoye is the Founder and CEO of SKNMUSE , the premium beauty brand dedicated to elevating the beauty experience for the modern black woman. Original Episode: No.35, June 2021 https://foundersunfound.com/sknmuse-black-founder-profile-podcast/ MORE ON EZINNE A...
Feb 04, 2023•57 sec
For the month of February, we are publishing flashback clips from some of our wonderful past episodes. Please a take some time enjoy (again) the full episodes from these founders. Season 4 of Founders Unfound starts in March! Kahlil Ashanti is the founder and CEO of weshowup , a company that brings the concept of "pay what you want" to entertainment and events. Kahlil has since gone on to also found Mantis XR , a company that creates 3D fan engagement and commerce experiences for the metaverse a...
Feb 03, 2023•53 sec
For the month of February, we are publishing flashback clips from some of our wonderful past episodes. Please a take some time enjoy (again) the full episodes from these founders. Season 4 of Founders Unfound starts in March! Jim Gibbs is Co-founder and CEO of MeterFeeder , a company that predicts parking availability, and enables vehicles to pay for parking with no human interaction. Original Episode: #20, October 2020 foundersunfound.com/meterfeeder-founder-profile-podcast MORE ON JIM AND METE...
Feb 02, 2023•47 sec
For the month of February, we are publishing flashback clips from some of our wonderful past episodes. Please a take some time to enjoy (again) the full episodes from these founders. Season 4 of Founders Unfound starts in March! Ashlee Wisdom is the Founder and CEO of Health in Her HUE, a digital platform connecting black women to culturally competent healthcare providers, health content, and community. Original Episode: #28, March 2021 foundersunfound.com/healthinherhue-black-founder-profile-po...
Feb 01, 2023•45 sec
Anthony Gantt is Founder and CEO of atease, a company that qualifies and lists temporary lodging rental inventory which enables per diem government travelers to stay in accommodation types beyond hotels. Anthony grew up in Miami, in a large family with modest means. He had gifts for math, STEM, and athletics. When he got to Florida A&M University, he was quickly hit with the sticker shock of college expenses, even at public HBCU like A&M. Urgency for solutions led him to take up the sugg...
Dec 16, 2022•58 min
Chantal Emmanuel is Co-Founder and CTO of LimeLoop , a company that is delivering a world without waste with their reusable smart packaging. Chantal grew up in Queens, in a neighborhood without many people of color, but with a strong sense of her Caribbean heritage, surrounded by a large extended family. She brought a calling to serve with her after college, leading to work in AmeriCorps, but it was her analytical and logic-driven intellect that soon brought her to data, and software. With a piv...
Nov 11, 2022•47 min
Oluwasoga Oni is Co-Founder and CEO of MDaaS Global , a company that is building Africa's largest network of physical and virtual diagnostic and primary care facilities, ultimately to provide quality and affordable healthcare for the continent's next billion. Soga, as he’s known, grew up in a rural town in Nigeria, surrounded by a family of doctors and medical professionals. And while he didn’t have the calling himself, he saw firsthand the gaps and challenges faced by providers. His love of tin...
Aug 27, 2022•56 min
Rod Johson is Co-Founder of BLK & Bold , the preeminent black-owned coffee company in America. Black & Bold was founded with the desire to unite coffee and tea lovers worldwide through a common interest of investing in community. Rod grew up in the working-class city of Gary Indiana and eventually went on to Indiana University and a career in development and giving. But he soon developed a restlessness that only business ownership could fix. Along with lifelong friend Pernell, Rod set ou...
Jul 15, 2022•54 min
SPECIAL EPISODE! OUR 3RD ANNIVERSARY 🎉🎆 What an amazing three years! Since we started in 2019, we’ve had 50 episodes interviewing 50 founders from 48 companies. As of mid-2022, our guests employ close to 500, and have collectively raised over $213M in outside funding. Incredible when you think about the challenges in fundraising that have faced all entrepreneurs, especially founders of color. They would make a pretty great portfolio! To celebrate our anniversary, we decided to go back to the b...
Jul 01, 2022•24 min
Francisco Baptista is Founder and CEO of TeamSportz , a company building an AI sports platform to help team athletes enhance their performance. Francisco was born in Angola, growing during a period of civil war in that country. He used basketball as an escape from this harsh environment, first by watching his mother play, and then finding sanctuary on the courts himself. Francisco moved to Brazil for his teenage years, then to Portugal, and finally now in the UK. All the while pursuing his dual ...
Jun 03, 2022•52 min
Keara Kindelynn is Founder and CEO of Foreverly , a company with a mission to make dealing with death--a little less stressful. Foreverly helps organizations support their employees who have experienced the death of a loved one. Kera was born to a family with deep roots to her hometown of Brooklyn. She emerged from college and business school, climbing the corporate ladder. Leading all the way to Seattle and Microsoft. But it was her calling to volunteering and service that led her to the world ...
May 20, 2022•52 min
Sabrina Williams is Founder and CEO of SEED , a company that helps consumers and underserved farmers grow smart and feed more by democratizing access to agriculture technology. Sabrina is a native Californian, born and raised in Compton. Her curiosity and passions led her to pursuits in architecture, law, and urban planning. Through her non-profit, she dedicated herself to social justice challenges in urban communities. It was in this arena that Sabrina discovered the core issue that would lead ...
May 06, 2022•46 min
Sean Bovell is Founder and CEO of Invidica , a company building a marketplace platform that is transforming the reseller economy one product at a time. Sean has an amazing background. Born in the UK, raised in predominantly white communities in Utah and Idaho, before landing in Oakland for his formative year. A natural at math and STEM, Sean has been drawn to tech from an early age. He built his first ecommerce company from the ground up, alternately celebrating and struggling with the highs and...
Apr 22, 2022•47 min
James Chapman is Founder and CEO of Plain Sight, a company that helps you make the right connections at events and workspaces, or connect online from anywhere. James started as an aspiring NBA player from Chattanooga Tennessee. He made it to the NBA’s D-league, but that's where that dream ended, and the next season began. Basketball’s loss was entrepreneurship’s gain. James started loading boxes for FedEx. His hustle led him to new opportunities, and eventually starting two different businesses....
Nov 19, 2021•52 min
Serge Amouzou is Founder and CEO of Finmod , a startup that helps companies forecast financials 10X faster. Finmod’s predictive-financial projection technology uses company data sources to give decision-ready data and actionable next steps for growth. Serge was born and raised in Togo. He came to the US at age 12, determined and curious. He set out to master English and assimilate. He thought he would be a neurosurgeon, but a pursuit of coding and tech led him to a career of being a repeat tech ...
Nov 05, 2021•46 min
Navalayo Osembo is Co-Founder and CEO of Enda , a company that is building on Kenya’s reputation as the global leader in distance running. With “Run Kenyan” as its motto, Enda makes running shoes in Kenya, for runners around the world. Navalayo is the first guest we’ve had on from the place of my ancestral heritage - Kenya. She grew up with a military father and a teacher mother, which meant strong themes of discipline and excellence. Combined with her gifts of curiosity, intelligence, and grit,...
Oct 15, 2021•56 min
Jarrett Wright is Founder and CEO of Higher Rewards , a company that offers nonprofits and faith-based organizations the ability to provide their members a self-branded credit card where a percentage of every purchase goes back to the organization. Jarrett is from several generations deep in the San Francisco Bay Area. Jarrett showed drive and ability from an early age. Reading by 2 years old. Doing the family’s grocery shopping at 6. But the pace and structure of school frustrated him. So inste...
Oct 01, 2021•52 min
Isaac Lymon is Co-Founder and CEO of Raxplay , a company that enables music artists to perform live real/time concerts via virtual reality. Raxplay puts fans in the front row, VIP, and backstage - all in the comfort of their homes. Isaac was born and raised in Detroit. At an early stage, he felt called to music. But after a taste of the grind artists endure, Isaac gravitated to what made music happen behind the scenes. It was then that he really came to appreciate the power that technology could...
Sep 11, 2021•46 min
Khalid David is Founder and CEO of TracFlo , a company with a predictive financial management platform that is empowering America’s contractors. Originally from the Bronx, Khalid was born into a family of tradesmen with a deep connection to his Afro-Caribbean roots. So it’s no surprise that, even with education from Morehouse, Columbia, and MIT, Khalid ended up in the construction industry. And it was those experiences that opened his eyes to the opportunity to better track the dynamic cost chan...
Aug 20, 2021•55 min
Patrice Darby Neely, Founder and CEO of GoLogic, a data aggregation and economic development platform helping small businesses accelerate growth and reduce failure, while increasing the capacity and capabilities of the organizations that support them. Patrice spent many years in childcare before starting her first startup, GoNanny, to address the fragmentation of care occurring with the busy schedules of families on the go. Timing wasn’t on her side, unfortunately, as her company fell victim to ...
Aug 13, 2021•49 min
Roger Roman, Co-Founder of AfriBlocks, the global Pan-African freelance marketplace and collaboration platform. They are building THE resource for devs, designers, and virtual assistants. Roger hails from Chicago, and in his home neighborhood there the Roman name is well known. He was pre-ordained to be a lawyer, but Roger took a different path: business. He leveraged his degree from Howard University to immerse in industries as varied as construction, video game development, and eventually mark...
Jul 30, 2021•51 min
James Jones, Co-Founder and CEO of Ownors, an AI-driven Fintech platform that helps artists retrieve payouts from streaming services. Ownors isn’t James’ first startup. Inspired by his upbringing, James became an attorney. But he saw the gaps in the system. The fundamental way that legal services are sold and distributed is a straight-up disconnect with the vast majority of people who need it. So he and his wife formed Court Buddy, where he became Black Enterprise Entrepreneur of the Year. After...
Jul 16, 2021•51 min
Melanie Akwule is Founder and CEO of MINWO , a DE&I tech company that connects companies with organizations that have a specific mission to support Black-owned businesses on their path to scaling. Originally from Virginia, Melanie was an NCAA track athlete who did her undergrad at Georgia Tech.She worked and excelled in the corporate world with GE. But it was at the Haas School, Cal Berkeley where she built her startup muscle. She used her time in school to conceptualize and develop MINWOA. ...
Jul 09, 2021•47 min
Daricus Releford is Founder and CEO of StoreCash , a company that provides mobile banking for teens, as well as for unbanked and underbanked adults. Daricus is the twin son of a mom in the military. And as you just heard, he came home one day as a kid to find that his dad had taken everything from the house. Since that fateful event, Daricus has been on an entrepreneurial journey, that's gone from cutting lawns to building a FinTech startup in Silicon Valley. Along the way, he's had to persevere...
Jul 02, 2021•54 min
Black Entrepreneurship & Fundraising in 2021- have we made any progress? In this special episode, we bring you the fireside chat moderated by Dan with: Amira Rasool , CEO of The Folklore Daricus Releford , CEO of StoreCash Kwame Boler , CEO of neu In the session we talked about the state of black entrepreneurship and fundraising in 2021. As we experience Juneteenth for the first time as a National holiday, we ask: What has changed? What has remained the same? Where are the opportunities for ...
Jun 30, 2021•47 min
Ezinne Iroanya-Adeoye is Founder and CEO of SKNMUSE , the premium beauty brand dedicated to elevating the beauty experience for the modern black woman. Ezinne was born and raised in Nigeria. After graduating from high school at 15 and ace-ing her SATs, she came to the US for college. She thought she was going to be a petroleum engineer. Lucky for the rest of us, that didn’t happen. Ezinne never forgot the joy she found in the soothing remedies her mom and grandmother prepared for her dry skin. S...
Jun 18, 2021•1 hr 1 min
OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE : Founders Live the global venue for entrepreneurs to experience events, content, and community. Check out founderslive.com to join and to find a live event streaming from your city. In this episode Sonja and Dan discussed: growing up in Durham NC The call to engineering The career arc between academia and entrepreneurship Why the legal system can feel rigged How African Americans are, by necessity, innovative and entrepreneurial Dr. Sonja Ebron Co-founder and CEO o...
Jun 11, 2021•52 min
The Plug Delivering clear analysis and powerful insights on what's shaping the Black innovation economy. Get your annual subscription to The Plug at tpinsights.com In this episode Amira and Dan discussed: growing up in the same town as Zach Braff and SZA The blog that explored Bobbie Austin's Closet Her college experience in CapeTown South Africa How her vision for The Folklore originated long before the company Her great advice for other black women founders Amira Rasool is the Founder and CEO ...
May 29, 2021•59 min
