The Black community has a long and rich history of entrepreneurship and they have been at the forefront of innovation and economic growth.
In recent years, there has been a surge in Black-owned businesses. These businesses are tackling a wide range of challenges and opportunities, from healthcare and education to technology and finance.
They are also attracting significant investment from venture capitalists and other investors.
Here are 10 Black-owned businesses to watch out for in 2023: CEEK Metaverse, CareAcademy, EnrichHER, Freeing Returns, PopCom, Goalsetter, UK Black Business Show, Checkboard, Mākhers Studio and The Shade Room.
Founded by Mary Spio in 2016, CEEK Metaverse directly connects music artists and other premium content creators directly to their fans through VR Concerts, NFTs and unique experiences in virtual worlds.
Founded by Helen Adeosun in 2016, CareAcademy is a digital training platform that helps home care providers improve their skills and knowledge. The company's mission is to "improve the quality of care for seniors and people with disabilities by empowering their caregivers." CareAcademy has raised over $20 million in funding and is used by over 100,000 home care providers in the United States.
Founded by Dr. Roshawnna Novellus, EnrichHER is a cutting-edge financial technology platform that connects revenue-generating companies led by women and founders of color to individual and institutional investors. Certified as a B Corporation™ and a portfolio company of Techstars, Fearless Fund, and Georgia Tech's ATDC Accelerate program, EnrichHER has been operational since 2019, deploying over $14 million in capital to traditional businesses in 47 states. To date, our network has interacted with more than 98,000 companies both virtually in our digital community and in person at our various activations.
Founded in 2013 by Barbara Jones-Brown, Freeing Returns (Formerly known as Lillii RNB Inc.), is a woman and veteran-owned IT solution provider that helps retailers save money by solving total retail loss. Their enterprise SaaS product decreases all types of loss, while their Salesforce App catches ecommerce fraud associated with online orders. Moreover, Freeing Returns provides technical expertise to assist IT teams in optimizing their point-of-sale technology and other solutions.
Founded by Dawn Dickson Akpoghene in 2012, PopCom is a high-tech alternative to your typical retail dispensary machines. It is a robotic pop-up shop that can dispense physical and digital products, complemented by powerful features like lead capture, display ads, customer surveying, and more. Depending on your product size, the PopShop can hold up to 500 products!
Founded by Tanya Van Court, Goalsetter is a financial education company that helps kids and families learn about money. The company's platform provides games, activities, and resources that teach kids about saving, investing, and budgeting. Goalsetter has raised over $10 million in funding and has helped over 1 million kids learn about money.
Founded by Raphael Sofoluke in 2017, the UK Black Business Show has been created to inspire and connect black business owners and professionals working in various industries. Through business exhibitions, deep-dive workshops, interactive panels and seminars, delivered by industry pioneers, this event will enable personal, professional and corporate development.
Founded by James Owusu in 2019, Checkboard is a real estate management software company that helps businesses speed up onboarding in property transactions by completing secure KYC, and source of funds verification, for the parties of a property transaction. Their solutions are best aimed at small and medium Estate Agents, and Conveyancers looking to provide an app based verification for their property clients.
Founded by Wanona Satcher in 2017, Mākhers Studio is a green manufacturing and design-build firm that specializes in unique, rapidly-deployed modular real estate with purpose and market rate returns.
The Shade Room (TSR) was founded by Angelica Nwandu in 2014, and has grown into a leading media powerhouse for breaking news and a trailblazer for reporting all things pop culture. TSR combines investigative entertainment journalism from their writers with crowdsourced journalism from their Roommates to operate a 24/7 news outlet.
Conclusion
These are just a few of the many Black-owned businesses that are making a difference in the world. These companies are tackling some of the biggest challenges facing our society and are helping to create a more equitable future.