Founders Unfound

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...

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...

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...

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 i...

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 Ber...

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...

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...

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 ne...

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 rig...

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 lo...

OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE : Trajectory: Startup - Ideation to Product/Market Fit A brand new book by entrepreneur and investor Dave Parker. This hot-off-the-presses publication is THE playbook for those at the earliest stages of the startup journey. Or even if you are just contemplating the jump to entrepreneurship. To get this great resource, go to dkparker.com or find anywhere you buy books....

OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE : Trajectory: Startup - Ideation to Product/Market Fit A brand new book by entrepreneur and investor Dave Parker. This hot-off-the-presses publication is THE playbook for those at the earliest stages of the startup journey. Or even if you are just contemplating the jump to entrepreneurship. To get this great resource, go to dkparker.com or find anywhere you buy books....

OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE :   AfriBlocks The global pan-African freelance marketplace and collaboration platform. Tell them "Dan sent you" for 10% off your first order. More at afriblocks.com Cascadia Cleantech Accelerator powered by VertueLab and CleanTech Alliance This 15-week program delivers mentorship, connections, funding opportunities, and more. For early-stage cleantech startups l...

OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE : Cascadia Cleantech Accelerator powered by VertueLab and CleanTech Alliance This 15-week program delivers mentorship, connections, funding opportunities, and more. For early-stage cleantech startups looking to launch and scale their businesses. Applications are open until April 16th . Don't miss out, apply today at  cascadiacleantech.org   Af...

OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE : 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 Ashlee and Dan discussed: Growing up in the Bronx - and still living there! Her personal experiences with healthcare inequity How her view working 'inside' healthcare moved her to launch h...

OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE : Multicultural Mainstream: Reimagining Humanity and Technology A virtual venture conference hosted by the Columbia Venture Community Access great content and breakouts with venture capitalists. March 5-6th 2021 Check out bit.ly/CVCMM for tickets. Don't miss out! In this episode Genevieve and Dan discussed: Starting life in Haiti How she's combined science and finance...

WE ARE BACK! WELCOME TO OUR NEW SERIES FOR 2021 OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE : Multicultural Mainstream: Reimagining Humanity and Technology A virtual venture conference hosted by the Columbia Venture Community Access great content and breakouts with venture capitalists. March 5-6th 2021 Check out bit.ly/CVCMM for early-bird tickets. Don't miss out! In this episode Ayinde and Dan discussed: Growi...

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: We review 2020 and where our past guests came from The effects of George Floyd on these founders, their companies and communities To be a black founder in 202...

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: We review 2020 and where our past guests are collectively Updates from 7 previous guest founders Insights on COVID-19's impact for: business, employees, fundr...

Follow Founders Unfound  : Like and share - help us grow! A preview of our Updates episode. We caught up with former guests to see where they are today and where they are headed for 2021. And we reflected on what will certainly be considered an historic year, 2020. Be sure to listen in. EPISODE drops December 18th! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Founders Unfound tells the stories of exceptional entrepreneurs and tech founders from underrepresented backgrounds – starting with founders of African descent. We have a regular podcast and complimentary blog created to shine a light on the broad spectrum that reflects all the diversity in startups today. Hosted by season tech entrepreneur Dan Kihanya (@dkihanya), the show explores the origin sto...

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 Abbey and Dan discussed: Growing up in the slums of Lagos Nigeria Key philosophies: fall forward + you are enough The transition from balmy Nigeria to frigid Minnesota his...

Follow Founders Unfound  : Like and share - help us grow! Abbey Wemimo  is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of  Esusu , the leading financial technology platform that leverages data solutions to empower tenants and improve property performance. Abbey was raised in Lagos Nigeria, came to the US for college, worked on Obama’s re-election campaign, launched his first start up, and even did a...

OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE : Black Women Talk Tech a collective of black women tech founders that exists to identify, support and encourage black women to build billion dollar businesses. BWTT is hosting Face of the Founder Summit on November 17th , bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, and partners for an exciting gathering. Registration is free, but spots are limited. You don’t want to...

Follow Founders Unfound  : Like and share - help us grow! Kirt Debique  is Co-Founder, CEO and CTO of  SyncFloor , a company revolutionizing discovery and acquisition of music for productions of all types - from advertising and podcasting to filmmaking, TV and eSports. Kirt is a former, fast-rising exec at Microsoft and a founder of his own Indie music label. He has an amazing story...