VISIBLE NEWS
May 10, 2024
Visible Hands is a VC firm that provides exceptional founders from underrepresented backgrounds with the funds, hands-on support, and community they need to thrive at the earliest stages of company building.
Happy Friday, Visionaries!ICYMI: our team recently launched applications for cohort II of our VHBOS fellowship, a nine-week fellowship program developed in partnership with the Barr Foundation to support early-stage, Boston-based underrepresented entrepreneurs!
The Fellowship program will provide $10K in non-dilutive funding and hands-on, business-oriented workshops to 15 founders who are representative of Greater Boston’s rich racial and gender diversity.
Share the deets with a Boston-based founder you know! Applications are open now through May 28th - learn more and apply here!Additionally, this week marks the last week of our survey to learn how to best tweak this newsletter. Anyone who fills out this VH newsletter survey will be entered for a chance to win a $10 Dunkin gift card for coffee on us! Let us know your thoughts - our next three winners will be chosen at the end of May. Congratulations to this week's winners: Uzo Amuzie, Raheema Robinson & Anthony Miranda!Be well,
The VH Team
VISIONARY UPDATES
Founder Updates, Asks, and Wins
Congratulations to VNYC II Founder Laura Schaack of Tattd on recently being featured in Scroobious' April newsletter!
Congratulations to VHNYC II Founder Stephanie Downs of Uncaged Innovations on her recent feature on the Vegconomist!
Congratulations to VHNYC II Founder Emilie Rodriguez of The Bridge Directory on receiving the National Minority Quality Forum ‘s 40 Under 40 award!
Congratulations to Visionaries Alum Shannon Morales of Tribaja on being featured on PhillyLive this week!
Congratulations to VHNYC I Founder Brittany Brathwaite of Kimbritive on being recognized as a Top 50 in Digital Health Health Equity Advocate honoree!
Congratulations to Visionaries Alum Brooke Hill of Swella on announcing the upcoming opening of a new Swella location in Charlotte, NC!
Congratulations to VHNYC I Founder Irma Cedeno Verdon of Diafano on winning the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development x Black & Latino Tech Initiative grant!
WHAT WE HAVE OUR EYES ON
➕ Founder funding, community resources, and events
Calling all Black early-stage tech founders! Get the funding & support you need to drive your business forward by pitching your startup in 1871's BLKTech 3-round pitching competition. Learn more and apply here by May 12th.
Applications are open for the Visa Everywhere Initiative, granting support to founders with creative and effective solutions for the payments industry. Learn more and apply here by May 13th.
Applications are open for the BMO Celebrating Women grant, which provides grants to 15 women-owned businesses to take their businesses to the next level. Learn more and apply here by May 14th.
Step into the innovative future of offshore wind! Head over to the Wind-Win Startup Showdown powered by the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub to hear lightning pitches from their accelerator finalists — presented live in front of you and to an esteemed jury of industry experts. Learn more and RSVP here to attend on May 15th.
Applications are open for the TiE Women Pitch Competition, where early-stage startups founded or co-founded by female entrepreneurs can get help scaling with access to expert-led workshops, mentorship programs, pitch events and more. Learn more and apply here by May 15th.
The 8th annual Roadmap to Billions Conference is coming soon, a tech event for Black women to feel empowered, inspired, and discover the latest trends and strategies in entrepreneurship/tech while networking with industry leaders, investors, and fellow founders. Learn more and register here to attend on May 16th-19th!
Applications are open for Hubspot's Inbound Million Dollar Pitch, which provides investments of up to $1M for startups. Learn more and apply here by May 17th.
Pepperdine University invites you to submit your startup to the 2024 Most Fundable Companies competition. Winners will be featured at a showcase event in Malibu, CA in September, receive national press, and will be profiled in Entrepreneur Magazine. Learn more and apply here by May 21st.
Applications are open for Techstars Economic Mobility Powered by Samvid Ventures for fall 2024. Learn more and apply here by May 22nd.
Applications are open for the Praxis Business Accelerator, which supports the growth, health, and impact of new ventures through capital, connections, and more. Learn more and apply here by May 22nd.
Are you an Amazon Business customer with an annual revenue of $1 million or less? The Amazon Business Small Business Grants are back and you could be one of the 15 grant recipients. Get ready for a chance to win a share of over $250K in monetary grants and other amazing prizes, including a Business Prime membership. Learn more and apply here by May 24th.
Applications are open for Bubble: Immerse Impact, a pre-accelerator that equips underrepresented founders to create fully-functioning MVPs on Bubble. Learn more and apply here by May 24th.
Applications are open for Block Advisors' Fund Her Future, a grant program that awards $100K in grants to women-owned businesses. Learn more and apply here by May 26th.
Founders First CDC (Founders First) has opened applications for the 2024 National Pride Grant, a grant fund aimed to support U.S. based LGBTQIA+ small business owners. Learn more and apply here by May 28th.
Registration is now open for the 2024 Founder to CEO Summit. Presented by 1863 Ventures in collaboration with Wells Fargo, this one-day conference is custom-designed for New Majority founders like you who have historically been underestimated. Learn more and register here to attend on May 29th.
Are you ready to accelerate your venture with Halcyon? Applications are open for the Halcyon Equitech Fellowship, which empowers entrepreneurs across the United States and the globe leveraging technology to increase social and financial inclusion and close equity gaps in wealth, education, and accessibility. Learn more and apply here by May 31st.
Applications are open for Shea Moisture's Dream Fund grant, offering $10K grants and personalized coaching/menotring sessions to five entrepreneurs. Learn more and apply here by May 31st.
The National Black Business Pitch is seeking Black founders for their annual pitch competition. Winners receive case prizes up to $10K and NBBP connects Black owned businesses with corporations who plan to expand and diversify their supply chain. Learn more and apply here by June 3rd.
43North, an accelerator program in Buffalo, NY is offering seed-stage founders $1M investments in exchange for 5% equity for a limited time! Learn more and apply here by June 7th.
Applications are open for TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield 200, the world’s preeminent startup competition. Startup Battlefield 200 showcases the top 200 startups from around the globe, across multiple industries at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 in San Francisco on October 28-30. Learn more and apply here by June 10th.
The Factor Fellowship is a new part-time program connecting talent from underrepresented groups to careers at New York City's leading startups. Developed by Primary Venture Partners and a coalition of VCs and startup leaders, the fellowship will help career changers transition into go-to-market and operations roles at high-growth startups. Learn more and apply here by June 10th.
Attention all CPG founders! Are you looking to get your product into major retailers in 2024? If so, check out SEED SPOT's Retail Brand Accelerator, sponsored by Walmart through the Walmart.org Center for Racial Equity. Learn more and apply here by June 23rd.
Applications are open for LegalZoom small business grants, which support both established and budding business ventures through $10K grants and/or up to $500 in LegalZoom products and services. Learn more and apply here by September 13th.
🌎 Ecosystem Spotlights
We’re excited to partner with TechNYC as their team launches Startup:NYC, a founder community designed to deliver the resources that New York’s next superstar founders actually need. Want to join the community? Learn more and apply here!
Are you ready to take your startup to the next level? If so, a16z Talent x Opportunity is looking for you! TxO is a 16-week accelerator focused on ambitious early-stage founders building consumer companies at the forefront of culture and lifestyle. Learn more and apply here.
Applications are open and rolling for The Amber Grant, which supports women-owned businesses through $30K business grants every month. Learn more and apply here.
RSVP for the upcoming Build UP CPG Half-Day Seminar, presented by Build in Tulsa, tailored specifically for local entrepreneurs in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) sector. Learn more and RSVP here to attend on May 18th.
We are happy to share the launch of PEERLESS, a $1M pitch competition focused on supporting visionary Latine, Black, Native American and Female founders of early-stage companies. The goal is to highlight and back exceptional founders. PEERLESS is powered by Alley Corp and Management Leadership For Tomorrow. Learn more and apply here for a chance to pitch on June 20th.
Registration is now open for LATTITUDE 2024, the largest business event in the country focused on The New Mainstream Economy and helping enlightened executives and business leaders understand the U.S. Latino cohort that is driving its growth. Learn more and register here by July 31st!
💼 Featured Jobs
Amwell is hiring a remote Technical Support Specialist.
Givebutter is hiring a remote Product Designer of Growth.
Veeva Systems is hiring a remote Sr. Software Engineer - Java.
Our friends over at Liberty Mutual are hiring for multiple innovation-related positions - learn more about the available roles and apply here!
🧑🏽💻 What we are loving lately
Watching: VHLX Fellow Carmen Perez's video on How to incorporate a mood meter in your financial coaching business
If you'd like your founder resource or event/conference to be featured in our weekly newsletter, shoot us a message at kerry@visiblehands.vc
"We celebrate the bold, the curious, and the irrational. We applaud those with big dreams, and who choose the harder, riskier path in relentless pursuit of pushing forward what is possible."
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