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What minority founders must consider before entering the venture-backed startup ecosystem

TechCrunch

Sesie Bonsi is the founder and CEO of Bleu , a financial technology platform focused on enabling touchless payment experiences. But most venture-backed startups are “still overwhelmingly white, male, Ivy-League-educated and based in Silicon Valley,” according to a study conducted by RateMyInvestor and Diversity VC. Sesie Bonsi.

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Both Things Can Be True: Bias and Bad Fundraising Advice

This is going to be BIG.

I’m a female founder. I don’t have a technical co-founder. These are all of the things I heard from a founder that I recently backed. She was pitching for a pre-seed round of $400k. So what about all of the above statements—things that founders widely hold to be true barriers to fundraising? This isn’t surprising.

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Bark Tank and the Spirit of D.C.: The Future of Entrepreneurship in our Nation’s Capital

Revolution

Reflections on Georgetowns 2025 pitch competition from TedLeonsis Last week, Georgetown Universitys McDonough School of Business once again became a launchpad for the next generation of bold thinkers and doers. startup ecosystem. Theyre diverse, resourceful, and both practical and ambitious.

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Dispatches from the Road: Q2 2022

Revolution

miles to visit founders, college campuses, co-investors, ecosystem builders, and communities in rising cities. co-chairman of the inaugural Raleigh-Durham Startup Week, former EIR of Techstars, and co-founder of MapQuest?—?for for a keynote Q&A on rising ecosystems and why he’s bullish on the Triangle.

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Kenya’s Pariti raises $2.85M led by Harlem Capital to develop startup ecosystems in emerging markets

TechCrunch

Pariti , the Kenya-based community-led marketplace building the digital infrastructure for startup ecosystems in emerging markets, has raised $2.85 We’re thrilled to be working with Harlem Capital,” co-founder and CEO Yacob Berhane said of Harlem’s participation. million seed, the company confirmed to TechCrunch today.

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What I did on my summer vacation: The First LP Close ($3.5mm) of Brooklyn Bridge Ventures

This is going to be BIG.

Back when I was pitching my previous startup to investors, it had never really dawned on me that they had experienced what I was going through--and that a VC firm was essentially a startup. VCs pitch for money, too. No one ever thinks about VCs having to pitch, who they pitch to, or how it works.

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After a record 2022, 8 investors explain why it’s ‘still just Day 1’ for Africa’s startup ecosystem

TechCrunch

“This shows that Africa’s investment landscape is still very promising because it continues to grow, and there’s increasing interest in multiple startup ecosystems, including nascent ecosystems. Having 1,000 active investors is not enough,” said Stephen Deng, founder and partner of DFS Lab. “We