Looking to get involved in tech and don’t live in Silicon Valley? Here are five organizations around the country that have tech resources catering specifically to black founders.
Atlanta
TechSquare Labs is a coworking space, a venture fund, and a community. Located in Midtown, Atlanta, Tech Square is a 1.4 million-square-foot bike-friendly, urban mixed-use development encompassing education, research, hospitality, office, retail, and residential areas. It is a destination for startup firms, incubators, established technology firms, major corporate offices, corporate innovation centers, venture capital investors, and business service providers.
(Image: TechSquare Labs)Miami
NewME Accelerator – The first accelerator for minority entrepreneurs. It is a one-week accelerator, hosted by their co-living space, Roam, in the beautiful Little Havana neighborhood of Miami and their headquarters in the Wynwood
Arts District. The program includes your living accommodations, meals, and week-long training. The cohorts are kept small, between 8-10 founders, so that the entrepreneurs get lots of one-on-one attention.Nashville
Black In Tech Nashville – a 350 member organization located in Nashville, Tennessee. The organization recently hosted the first city-wide forum on tech inclusion and has just been nominated for an award by the Nashville Technology Council. It caters to entrepreneurs in the Tennessee area.
D.C.
Black Female Founders is a global membership organization, community, and movement based in D.C. for women-led tech ventures and female tech leaders throughout the black diaspora. #BFF seeks to level the playing field by offering black female entrepreneurs the information and resources they need to succeed such as networking, business mentoring and access to venture capitalists (VCs), angel investors, and other forms of funding.
Chicago
I’m Black in Tech – ImBlackInTech is a global membership network for founders of emerging tech startups and professionals based in Chicago. They cater specifically to black and Latinx founders. Their membership comes with many offline events; they are dead set on helping diversify Chicago’s startup ecosystem and creating jobs for the community.