CINCINNATI — It was 2014 when Candice Matthews Brackeen developed the idea for her first tech company — a cellphone app called Hello Parent that aimed to help parents better connect with their children’s schools.
To get her app off the ground, Brackeen took part in a series of meetings with prospective investors to secure funding and other support for the project. Such venture capital pitch meetings were far less common for startup companies in the Midwest than in Silicon Valley.
Brackeen, herself a young mother eight years ago, ended up getting a meeting with UpTech, a startup accelerator in Northern Kentucky.
The meeting went well — the app became a national safety technology partner of the Brady Campaign to Reduce Gun Violence — and provided Brackeen with enough money to fund her company. But something didn’t sit well with her.
She was one of the few women of color in the tech field in Cincinnati. In fact, one of the few people of color period regardless of gender.
Brackeen, who’s currently the CEO of Lightship Capital, said less than 1% of all venture capital goes to Black-led companies. Those numbers are “just as abysmal” for other “minority groups” and women overall.
“It's lonely being the ‘only,’ so I wanted to do something about that,” said Brackeen. She created the Cincinnati Chapter of the Black Founders Network in 2015, a group that met monthly to connect and share their respective networks.
They also hit the road as a group, heading to the major tech events such as CES and South by Southwest but also Black Tech Week and Afro Tech, as well.
Continue reading: https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/cincinnati/news/2022/03/10/local-venture-capitalist-aims-to-help-women--people-of-color-get-seat-at-tech-table
To get her app off the ground, Brackeen took part in a series of meetings with prospective investors to secure funding and other support for the project. Such venture capital pitch meetings were far less common for startup companies in the Midwest than in Silicon Valley.
Brackeen, herself a young mother eight years ago, ended up getting a meeting with UpTech, a startup accelerator in Northern Kentucky.
The meeting went well — the app became a national safety technology partner of the Brady Campaign to Reduce Gun Violence — and provided Brackeen with enough money to fund her company. But something didn’t sit well with her.
She was one of the few women of color in the tech field in Cincinnati. In fact, one of the few people of color period regardless of gender.
Brackeen, who’s currently the CEO of Lightship Capital, said less than 1% of all venture capital goes to Black-led companies. Those numbers are “just as abysmal” for other “minority groups” and women overall.
“It's lonely being the ‘only,’ so I wanted to do something about that,” said Brackeen. She created the Cincinnati Chapter of the Black Founders Network in 2015, a group that met monthly to connect and share their respective networks.
They also hit the road as a group, heading to the major tech events such as CES and South by Southwest but also Black Tech Week and Afro Tech, as well.
Continue reading: https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/cincinnati/news/2022/03/10/local-venture-capitalist-aims-to-help-women--people-of-color-get-seat-at-tech-table
