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1000 Black Voices

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Apply now for the next 1000 Black Voices Fintech Accelerator

Founder Spotlight

Jones Amegbor
Founder PayAngel

With his participation in the 1000 Black Voices Black Tech Accelerator + Trade Mission, where we connected him to Gary Stewart, MD of Techstars NYC powered by J.P. Morgan, Jones has now been selected to join  Techstars New York City accelerator powered by J.P. Morgan, gaining access to investment and world-class resources.

PayAngel is a multi-award winning high integrity payment service enabling global transfers and payments for Africans everywhere without the risk of fund diversion or misapplication. A global fintech platform, that empowers immigrants to shape the economic fortunes of their families and home regions, and enable local businesses gain access to new cross-border markets.

Apply NOW to join the next 1000 Black Voices Fintech Accelerator + Trade Mission

With the backing and scale of the British Consulate, Empire Startups, Industry Leaders and Venture Capitalists, you are enabled to achieve your next stage of growth. Join 1000 Black Voices FinTech Accelerator + Trade Mission and achieve your fundraising and global expansion milestones.

Apply NOW for the next 1000 Black Voices Fintech Accelerator

During the 12-week 1000 Black Voices Accelerator, 12 December 2023 - March 2024, you will have access to

  • Interactive workshops relevant for growth providing relevant and practical insight into the Investment Journey, fundraising, technologies, sales, branding, innovation and technologies, pitch practice.

     

  • Mentor relationships providing advice and guidance for you to achieve business goals. These are facilitated through 1-2-1 mentoring, monthly mentoring circles and specialist mentors available for a deep dive into specific areas of need. 

     

  • Support for investment readiness – pitch deck, pitch practice and Investor insights
 
  • The opportunity to join the high-profile 1000 Black Voices Trade Mission into New York.

During the 4-day Trade Mission April 2024 to NY, you will have access to

  • Build lasting connections through small group sessions, events to develop relationships with the investor community.
  • New York Empire Fintech Conference
  • A step-by-step process on how to land in the US, access capital and scale.
  • Discuss innovation, business models, partnerships and customers with market leaders to understand what helps to gain traction in the US
  • Gain expert advice from industry-leading founders, investors, and tech executives about scaling businesses in the US and globally.
  • Showcase products and services to investors
  • Develop relationships with our world class partners such as Empire Startups, the British Consulate, Wilson Sonsini, Techstars, Barclays Rise, Pierce Yates Ventures, Grasshopper Bank and more.

Gain access to the knowledge, deep relationships and funding for your business needs.

Join an ecosystem of Enterprise, Incubators, Venture Capitalists, Angels and Industry Leaders

Apply NOW for the next 1000 Black Voices Fintech Accelerator

Some of our Speakers past and present

Heather Dowdy

Heather is Head of Global Product Accessibility, Netflix, leveraging technology to connect people with disabilities to their next favorite story. With fifteen years of experience developing and demonstrating accessible technology in mobile, web and artificial intelligence, Heather is passionate about connecting the dots across disability, race, tech, and faith.

Netflix won the Audio Description Game Changer Award 2021 from the American Council of the Blind community. This year Heather was appointed to the US Access Board by President Biden based on her expertise in accessibility and experience in fostering collaboration within the disability community.

 

Jochen Biedermann

Jochen is managing director of the World Alliance of International Finance Centers (WAIFC). He has been instrumental in its growth since its inception in 2018. At WAIFC, we collaborate with leading universities, associations, and companies on selected topics of current and future developments in the financial industry. 

Jochen is enthusiastic about founding and developing FinTechs, young companies in the financial industry. He contributes his experience as a mentor and board member, and supports FinTechs in their international expansion, paving the way for a successful start in one of the countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe where WAIFC is active.

 

Daniel Glazer

Dan is an American technology lawyer, strategic business advisor, and the Managing Partner of Wilson Sonsini’s London office.

Dan advises high-growth UK/European technology and life sciences companies on raising capital in the US and UK/Europe, expanding their businesses into US markets, and connecting with investors, corporates, and advisors.

Dan was honored as The American Lawyer’s first “Transatlantic Innovator of the Year” and UK Tech News has recognized Dan as one of London’s top “International Connectors.”

 

Kange Kaneene

Kange is the Vice President of SAP.iO Foundries North and Latin America and Caribbean, SAP’s global network of no-equity ask external startup accelerators. SAP.iO Foundries provide technical and go-to-market support to help startups integrate into SAP’s portfolio and accelerate entry into SAP’s ecosystem to be easily accessed and deployed by SAP customers.

Kange has a passion for diversity and creating equally distributed access to opportunity. She is an angel investor with Pipeline Angels group, a group of female investors who invest in female founders.

 

 

Scott Mackin

Scott is a Managing Partner of Denham Capital and heads the firm’s International Power team. He brings over 30 years of energy experience to Denham and is a voting member of the Power Investment Committee and a member of the Valuation Committee. 

Scott is an investor into  sustainable infrastructure, women-led enterprises and is an Alma angel investor.

Scott is recognised for his writing, shortlisted for the 2022 First Novel Prize.

 

Gardy Berthoumieux

Gardy is Managing Partner of Visionary VC. He is a savvy investor who started angel investing and advising startups in 2018. Later in 2018, he became a Limited Partner/ advisor  to Impact X, the first black owned venture capital firm in the UK whose investment in Marshmallow achieved unicorn status with a recent valuation of $1.2B

He is a seasoned banker with his banking career spans over 30+ years, including the firms of Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, and Lehman Brothers. 

Andy Davis

Andy is a serial investor and co-founder of 10×10 Capital, a fund that invests in early-stage black founders in the UK. 10×10 released the Black Report, in partnership with Google for Startups. It was the first qualitative report on Black startup founders in the UK.

Andy was an angel investor at Atomico and is ex-Director of Backstage Capital London. Investor in residence at Capital Enterprise, and Investor in Residence at Google for Startups.

Andy is spearheading efforts to make European investing more diverse and inclusive by raising awareness of underrepresentation, and providing financial, strategic, and networking support to Black founders.

 

Selena Singleton

Selena is Head of Strategic Development for Nasdaq’s Corporate Platforms business, She has been recognized by Savoy Magazine as one of the Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America.

As Head of Strategic Development for Corporate Platforms, she has spearheaded expansion opportunities to optimize revenues, operations and client success. Beyond her day-to-day operations, she’s also a pivotal member of GLOBE, a Nasdaq employee resource group that provides a platform for connection and collaboration for all employees that have an affinity or interest in Black, African, African-American and West Indian culture at Nasdaq.

 

Cody Peterson

Cody’s practice focuses primarily on supporting early-stage founders and historically-excluded founders at every business phase, with a special emphasis on helping first-time founders navigate the corporate lifecycle from formation through financing rounds and strategic transactions, including public offerings and mergers and acquisitions.

He has represented startups and venture capital funds in a variety of industries, including e-commerce, social and digital media, fintech, edtech, augmented and virtual reality, life sciences, esports and blockchain technology.

 

 

Tavier Taylor

Tavier is the Chief Technology Officer of the Chartered Management Institute. With over 20 years experience in IT Strategy delivery, digital and cyber security functions, Tavier is an advocate for technology leadership that seeks to inspire, elevate and disrupt global businesses and communities.

Tavier’s career spans across Europe, Asia, North and Latin America. Her roles have seen her represent many top-tier organisations such as PwC, Cummins Power Systems and Weichai Group.

As a champion and advocate focused on connecting and advancing women across various areas of technology and other STEM careers.

 

Stewart Noakes

Stewart is a serial entrepreneur with a career building several technology-related companies. Stewart is actively involved in fostering entrepreneurship in the UK and Portugal, with links also in the USA and India.

Stewart is on a number of boards supporting their growth to exit goals. He mentors, coaches, and is advisory to founders of start-ups and scale-ups as well as engaging with a variety of government and ecosystem-level organizations.

 

Lamin Darboe

As an early stage technology investor, Lamin has a passion for discovering and supporting innovative startups at the forefront of the tech industry. With a background in both business and technology, he is well-equipped to identify promising companies and provide valuable guidance and resources as they navigate the early stages of growth.

Lamin is always on the lookout for talented and driven founders who are poised to make a significant impact in their respective fields.

 

Brian Luciani

Based in New York City, Brian has a decade of experience working in financial services and has led teams in businesses spanning across investment banking, fixed income, operations, third party risk management and finance. Prior to joining Barclays to relaunch the firm’s fintech engagement platform Rise New York with a digital pipeline strategy focused more holistically on North America, Brian solidified operating experience at a late stage start-up to support a founding team on their highly anticipated IPO. 

Brian is currently Chief Development Officer and Venture Partner for SMB Franchise Advisors.

 

 

Richard Potter

Richard is a Director Digital Strategy at Microsoft, where he advises business leaders on how to create value through digital transformation and innovation.

With over 20 years of experience in the digital field, Richard has a proven track record of leading and delivering complex and impactful projects across various sectors and geographies. He is a creative and people-oriented problem-solver, an entrepreneurial and dynamic leader, and a confident and engaging speaker. He is passionate about empowering organisations and individuals to embrace the opportunities and challenges of technology and its impact on business and society.

 

Jason Scott

Jason Scott Co-Founder & Partner, ANIM a venture capital fund helping founders scale from inception. ANIM is a Generalist seed fund

Jason is an experienced investor, entrepreneur, event manager, & dancer. He’s built funds and accelerator programs for Google including accelerators for black-led, women-led, and climate-focused companies.

Jason is also the Cofounder of Black Angel Group. Prior to that, he was the head of the Startup Developer Ecosystem at Google.

 

 

 

Andrew Yanover

Andrew joined Insight in 2022. His prior experiences include assisting consumer fintech platform Uprise with their go-to-market strategy, working for Pinnacle Investment Management to identify and support boutique investment firms globally, and living and working in Tel Aviv for Munich Re’s corporate venture capital arm.

Andrew is an Advisory Council Member for Entrepreneurship at Cornell. He graduated from the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations where he additionally minored in both Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Law & Society.

 

Pedro Guimarães

Pedro is an experienced entrepreneur and Managing Director with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. He is CEO in Residence at Canopy Community supporting, coaching and mentoring founders in the community as they develop, raise funds and scale their startups.  

Pedro has over 20 years helping leading brands engage with their customers and consumers. He supports companies switching to digital and managing change, with a very People Centric approach.
– Decoding transformation for non-tech executives and organizations
– Dedicating quality time to worthy nonprofit organizations.

 

Eric A. Williams

Eric was director of Innovations at Tata Communications and went on to spin out his own cyber security company the Corporate venture-backed mobile cybersecurity technology startup, ijura, Founder & CEO, that, as the chief innovator, led the key strategic technology and business decisions to successfully gain product-market fit and exit. 

Eric is currently serving as a Board Advisor for a number of Black-owned early stage startups. His focus with them has been to provide innovation and technology resources (experienced CTO type level) that otherwise may not be accessible to them due to a disparity in having access to early stage funding. 

 

Keith Levy

Keith is Managing Partner of Visionary VC.

He is a seasoned banker with his career spanning over 20+ years. He was Head of Corporate Derivatives trading EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa) for Bank of America. Keith started his banking career at Credit Suisse (CS) in 2000 and in his most recent role, he was head of Structured Finance for EMEA focusing on trading, risk management, balance sheet/capital optimization and trading technology managing 45 billion USD of the firm’s balance sheet.

He is a member of the Executive Leadership Council, an organization of the highest- ranked Black executives in leading global enterprises. In 2020 he was recognized by the ELC as the International Executive of the year. 

Lynn Loacker

Lynn is deeply invested in the success of women – in business, in the law, and in the arts. Through Project W, the initiative she founded and leads, she accelerates the growth of women-led businesses, support the work of women VCs, and aim for more women executives in the C-Suite and Boardroom.

Lynn also empower the women lawyers at DWT to build their books of business and become partners and leaders at the firm. Through her salon series – Women + Art — Lynn brings together women in all artistic fields who are creating art that innovates, disrupts and challenges. Lynn invests her human, social, and financial capital to make connections, share expertise, provide resources, and fund women-led companies, women-led venture funds, and artists.

Apply NOW for the next 1000 Black Voices Fintech Accelerator

Our Partners

Take the next step in connecting to investment and scaling! 

#1000BlackVoices Accelerator+Mission

For more information, please contact:

contact@1000BlackVoices.com

Frequently Asked Questions

There are 2 parts 1000 Black Voices. You can participate in the 1000 Black Voices Accelerator on its own, or you can take the opportunity to participate in both the Accelerator + Trade Mission (See eligibility criteria).

The Accelerator includes

  • Interactive workshops and surgeries relevant for growth providing relevant and practical insight into the Investment Journey, fundraising, technologies, employee and customer engagement, branding, innovation and technologies, pitch practice. In addition, we offer participating founders the chance to develop deep relationships with industry
  • Dedicated 1-2-1 mentoring with industry experts and monthly mentoring circles.
The Trade Mission includes
 
  • The Trade Mission is a program where founders benefit from unique access to the London investor community with the opportunity to learn about doing business in London.
  • Networking with ecosystem partners, founders and VC’s
  • Pitch to VC’s

First and foremost you have a safe trusted space to talk about the challenges you face as a Black founder with authentic and active support provided to remove barriers for you to grow and scale. We understand your challenges as a Black Founder and are always acting to bring in the value you need.

You will have the benefit of online/hybrid sessions of varied lengths. The first few weeks are intensive with around 4-6 hours per week, primarily Tuesdays (a few exceptions).

From week 1, you will be focused on developing your pitch deck, pitch practice and gaining advice and feedback to strengthen your investment readiness.

We strongly recommend that you take full advantage of the sessions, 1-2-1 mentoring, AMA’s as well as developing relationships with industry experts, VC’s and fellow cohort members.

These are critical to your efforts to further understand the tech landscape, scale up your business, increase customer acquisition,  and expand your pool of suitable investors.

To be eligible for the Accelerator:
 
  • Business with a product or service in the market
  • Fintech business
  • Registered anywhere in the world
  • Black Heritage with 50% or more ownership and making the key strategic decisions for the company.

  • You are available to attend all the sessions over the 12-week period

To be eligible for the Trade Mission into New York : Have gone through the Accelerator
  • Seeking to raise capital 
  • Registered company 
  • Fintech business
  • Interested in doing business in the US and specifically developing New York investor and business connections
  • You are available to attend the Trade Mission into New York early April 2024 (8 April – 11 April 2024)

Stage 1: Written Application with Video Submission. Closing date 1 December 11.59pm GMT. Early submissions are encouraged. 

Please check that you meet the eligibility criteria mentioned above. If you do, then complete the application form using the link below.

Stage 2: Selection and Acceptance on 1000 Black Voices Accelerator

Shortlisted applicants will be sent an invitation to join the accelerator. They will have 2 days to accept the invitation. If we do not receive the acceptance we will invite the next applicant.

Stage 3: Interview

During the course of 1000 Black Voices Accelerator, participating founders who have applied for the Trade Mission will be invited to interview. 

Stage 4: Selection and Acceptance on the Trade Mission to London 

Shortlisted applicants will be sent an invitation to join the Trade Mission. They will have 2 days to accept the invitation. If we do not receive the acceptance we will invite the next applicant.

There are 2 parts to 1000 Black Voices. 

You have a choice of payment options 1-3 for the 1000 Black Voices Accelerator:

  1. £2000 
  2. £1000 + Paid Internship of 120 hours over 6 weeks of the Accelerator
  3. £125 + Equity 3%
The cost to join the Trade Mission to New York is
  • £1220 includes Trade Mission events + New York Empire Fintech conference ticket
  • Travel + hotel + food at your cost
Apply here

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