January 18, 2023
For immediate release
Contact: Tayler James [email protected]
Atlanta, GA—Media insights platform The Plug, along with Omidyar Network, to release The Black Tech Effect Report, one of the first to use a methodology of social impact measurement as the leading metric to analyze high-growth, Black-led technology companies in the U.S. and globally. The 100 companies and founders featured represent a broad spectrum of industries from fintech to climate tech, health care, HR, and more.
The report reveals that companies prioritizing social impact are excelling alongside companies that have been traditionally thought of as market leaders.
Key findings:
● Featured companies average over $90.5 million in total equity funding.
● The verticals with the highest average funding/valuation include mobility tech, Esports, and augmented reality, totaling $783 million.
● Over 25% of the high-growth companies featured in our list qualified under the social impact category, ranging from products that address the water crisis and food deserts to renewable energy and access to better healthcare systems.
“The Black Tech Effect Report aims to highlight the valuable work of venture-backed, Black-led technology startups paving the path of our future,” said Sherrell Dorsey, CEO and founder of The Plug.
“Black tech founders have often been overlooked in the rankings of creative and high value/high growth analysis within business reporting. We’re hopeful that ongoing reporting and examination of Black founders will provide a much richer and broader business landscape that expands what is possible in innovation.”
Support for this report comes from Omidyar Network.
“Society’s under-examination of the Black-led innovation economy and over-emphasis on growth and performance in key areas like ‘number of users’ has led to poor analysis and false narratives about the progress of Black-led tech companies,” said Aniyia Williams, principal at Omidyar Network and lead of The Tech We Want initiative. “We hope The Black Tech Effect shifts the way we all view success, kicks off a new era of reporting on tech entrepreneurship and helps to build community, infrastructure, and a shared narrative in support of Black technologists, thought leaders, and investors who are pursuing healthy alternatives to dominant tech culture.”
To download and read the report, visit theblacktecheffect.com.
About The Plug
Launched in 2016 as the first daily Black tech newsletter covering Black startups, VC firms, ecosystems, and more. Today, The Plug is a data-driven subscription-based digital news and insights platform covering the Black innovation economy.
For more information on how you can be part of this movement while also staying informed on breaking stories shaping the Black innovation economy – visit http://www.tpinsights.com
About Omidyar Network
Established by philanthropists Pam and Pierre Omidyar, Omidyar Network is a social change venture that has committed more than $1 billion to innovative for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations since 2004. Omidyar Network works to reimagine critical systems and the ideas that govern them, and to build more inclusive and equitable societies in which individuals have the social, economic, and democratic power to thrive. Learn more at www.omidyar.com and www.thetechwewant.com.
