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XMorgan DeBaun, AfroTech and How Black Tech Innovators Can Take Advantage of the Moment
Rachel Uranga is dot.LA's Managing Editor, News. She is a former Mexico-based market correspondent at Reuters and has worked for several Southern California news outlets, including the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Los Angeles Daily News. She has covered everything from IPOs to immigration. Uranga is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and California State University Northridge. A Los Angeles native, she lives with her husband, son and their felines.
Seven years ago, Morgan DeBaun left her job in Silicon Valley to help create Blavity, a news and events company geared toward Black millennials.
The name comes from the concept of "Black gravity"— the force that pulls people of color toward each other in predominantly white spaces — and it's intended to reflect the very voices she saw excluded in her tech job.
Over the years Blavity has become an influential voice, birthing AfroTech, a conference that it calls the largest for Black founders and creators, and acquiring travel startup TravelNoire in 2017.
On Saturday, Blavity will host its inaugural AfroTech Executive in Los Angeles. DeBaun, the company's CEO, sees the gathering of dozens of venture capitalists and founders as means to build ideas among leaders who share a collective consciousness about race. It can also help build a network of Black executives so they can get into decision making positions at some of the most powerful tech companies.
Founder and CEO of The Plug Sherrell Dorsey, co-founder and CEO of Reddit Steve Huffman, co-founder and CEO of Squire Technologies Songe Laron are among those slated to speak.
DeBaun thinks that coming together is a powerful force, especially after 18 difficult months. At the start of the pandemic, Blavity asked employees to take a 30% pay cut and shut down the Los Angeles office in anticipation of falling revenue. Then came the killing of George Floyd. It took a mental toll on staff but also gave her mission ever more urgency.
The company, which has since secured $12 million in venture funds, has bounced back. And the remote work experience made her realize that the arrangement made sense for employees who had to take care of children or parents.
How did AfroTech Executive evolve? And why did you feel it was needed?
AfroTech has been such a fruitful conference and brand for bringing together incredible Black tech innovators, we knew we wanted to continue to expand into different segments of our community to provide different experiences for connection. We wanted to create a space for executives to dive deep into what is going on in their industry and company, and be able to have candid conversations about what is and isn't working. This sort of exchange of ideas and long-lasting partnerships are at the foundation of AfroTech.
There is a shift going on right now in conversations about diversity and inclusion. But certainly these are not issues that are new to Black Americans. How have these changes impacted thinking among Black executives and other leaders?
Black executives and other Black leaders are really having their voices heard right now and that has pushed people forward, rightfully so, to use this as an opportunity to launch more ambitious ideas for people of color as consumers and different audiences. Taking advantage of this time to build a better opportunity for their employees and community moving forward is definitely something that is on the minds of Black leaders in business as they execute on their priorities.
Are we just at a moment or is there any real change going on?
These continued conversations will bring about real change if we continue to have them and hold businesses accountable by voting for what corporations succeed with our dollars. Through our purchases and our platforms, we should reward the companies that address our needs and treat our community with equity respect, not just in this moment, but for years to come.
You wrote a really powerful piece for dot.LA last year after the killing of George Floyd. You said: "Our pain serves a purpose. Destruction is necessary to make space for a new reality. A new world must eventually emerge because, as former President Barack Obama addressed in his statement this morning, we cannot accept our current reality." How does AfroTech Executive fit into that vision?
It's been a little over a year since George Floyd was murdered and we haven't had a chance to get together in person to celebrate the progress that has been made. Having a moment of time with your community and like-minded individuals to talk about what we've learned, how we've grown, and to celebrate success in Black tech and the media industry is important as this 'new world' continues to evolve.
Who is going to be at AfroTech Executive? Talk to me about the value of bringing these particular folks together.
Incredible tech innovators, investors, startup founders and tech moguls will come together for AfroTech Executive. The conversations that happen, partnerships that get started, and ideas that get sparked when these people are in the room are extremely valuable to the AfroTech community and the larger tech and startup community.
Why in Los Angeles?
L.A. is one of the most diverse cities at the intersection of media, entertainment, tech and finance. It's important to us that we create a community here in L.A. to help bridge the gap between those different industries, and AfroTech does just that.
Is it a good time to be a Black person in tech? Do you have any advice for Black people in tech?
Black people in tech are being heard more than they have historically, and my advice for Black people in tech is to take advantage of this time and push all of the ideas that you have out into the open. Continue to innovate and build.
- Blavity CEO Morgan DeBraun Calls for Action After George Floyd ... ›
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Rachel Uranga is dot.LA's Managing Editor, News. She is a former Mexico-based market correspondent at Reuters and has worked for several Southern California news outlets, including the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Los Angeles Daily News. She has covered everything from IPOs to immigration. Uranga is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and California State University Northridge. A Los Angeles native, she lives with her husband, son and their felines.
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“Talent Is Ubiquitous; Access to Capital Is Not': MaC Venture Capital Raises $203M for Early-Stage Startups
Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
While venture capital funding has taken a hit this year, that hasn’t stopped MaC Venture Capital from raising $203 million for its second fund.
The Los Angeles-based, Black-led VC firm said Monday that it had surpassed its initial $200 million goal for the fund, which dot.LA reported in January, over the span of seven months. MaC said it expects to invest the capital in up to 50 mostly seed-stage startups while remaining “sector-agnostic.”
“We love seed-stage companies because that’s where most of the value is created,” MaC managing general partner Marlon Nichols told dot.LA. While the firm has invested in local ventures like NFT gaming platform Artie, space startup Epsilon3 and autonomous sensor company Spartan Radar, Nichols said MaC—whose portfolio companies span from Seattle to Nairobi—would continue to eye ventures across the rest of the country and world.
“Talent is ubiquitous; access to capital is not,” Nichols noted. “What they’re building needs to matter; we’ve got to believe that this group of founders is the best team building in the space, period.”
Launched in 2019, MaC is led by four founding partners: VC veteran Nichols, former Washington, D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, and former William Morris Endeavor talent agents Charles D. King and Michael Palank. Nichols described the team’s collective background in government, consulting, media, entertainment and talent management as its “superpower.”
In a venture capital industry where few people of color are decision-makers, MaC Venture Capital has looked to wield its influence to provide opportunities for founders of color. The firm says 69% of its portfolio companies were started by BIPOC founders and 36% are led by women, while MaC has also diversified its own ranks by adding female partners Zhenni Liu and Haley Farnsworth.
MaC’s second investment fund nearly doubled the size of the firm’s $110 million first fund, which it closed in March 2021. The new fund’s repeat institutional investors include Goldman Sachs, ICG Advisors, StepStone, the University of Michigan, the George Kaiser Family Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation, while the likes of Illumen Capital and the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois also pitched in as new investors.
“It’s a great combination of having affirmation from people who have been with us from the beginning and new people coming in that want to be a part of it,” Fenty told dot.LA.
- Can MaC VC Help Solve Tech's Whiteness Problem? - dot.LA ›
- MaC Venture Capital's Marlon Nichols on 'Diversity Theater' - dot.LA ›
- MaC Venture Capital Eyes $200 Million For Its Second Fund - dot.LA ›
Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
California Debates Data Privacy as SCOTUS Allows Abortion Bans
Keerthi Vedantam is a bioscience reporter at dot.LA. She cut her teeth covering everything from cloud computing to 5G in San Francisco and Seattle. Before she covered tech, Keerthi reported on tribal lands and congressional policy in Washington, D.C. Connect with her on Twitter, Clubhouse (@keerthivedantam) or Signal at 408-470-0776.
The United States Supreme Court called a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks constitutional on Friday, overturning the country’s founding abortion rights decision Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court also upheld that there cannot be any restriction on how far into a pregnancy abortion can be banned.
When Politico first broke the news months before SCOTUS’s final ruling, a slew of bills entered Congress to protect data privacy and prevent the sale of data, which can be triangulated to see if a person has had an abortion or if they are seeking an abortion and have historically been used by antiabortion individuals who would collect this information during their free time.
Democratic lawmakers led by Congresswoman Anna Eshoo called on Google to stop collecting location data. The chair of the Federal Trade Commission has long voiced plans for the agency to prevent data collection. A week after the news, California Assembly passed A.B. 2091, a law that would prevent insurance companies and medical providers from sharing information in abortion-related cases (the state Senate is scheduled to deliberate on it in five days).
These scattered bills attempt to do what health privacy laws do not. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, was established in 1996 when the Internet was still young and most people carried flip phones. The act declared health institutions were not allowed to share or disclose patients’ health information. Google, Apple and a slew of fertility and health apps are not covered under HIPAA, and fertility app data can be subpoenaed by law enforcement.
California’s Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (or CMIA), goes further than HIPAA by encompassing apps that store medical information under the broader umbrella of health institutions that include insurance companies and medical providers. And several how-tos on protecting data privacy during Roe v. Wade have been published in the hours of the announcement.
But reproductive rights organizations say data privacy alone cannot fix the problem. According to reproductive health policy think tank Guttmacher Institute, the closest state with abortion access to 1.3 million out-of-state women of reproductive age is California. One report from the UCLA Center on Reproductive Health, Law and Policy estimates as many as 9,400 people will travel to Los Angeles County every year to get abortions, and that number will grow as more states criminalize abortions.
Keerthi Vedantam is a bioscience reporter at dot.LA. She cut her teeth covering everything from cloud computing to 5G in San Francisco and Seattle. Before she covered tech, Keerthi reported on tribal lands and congressional policy in Washington, D.C. Connect with her on Twitter, Clubhouse (@keerthivedantam) or Signal at 408-470-0776.
LA Tech ‘Moves’: Adtech Firm OpenX Lures New SVP, Getlabs and DISQO Tap New VPs
Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.
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Advertising technology company OpenX Technologies appointed Geoff Wolinetz as senior vice president of demand platforms. Wolinetz was most recently senior vice president of growth at Chalice Custom Algorithms.
Remote health care infrastructure provider Getlabs hired Jaime LaFontaine as its vice president of business development. L.A.-based LaFontaine was previously director of business development for Alto Pharmacy.
Customer experience platform DISQO tapped Andrew Duke as its vice president of product, consumer applications. Duke previously served as Oracle’s senior director of strategy and product.
Media company Wheelhouse DNA named Michael Senzer as senior manager of Additive Creative, its newly launched digital talent management division. Senzer was previously vice president of business development at TalentX Entertainment.
Fintech lending platform Camino Financial hired Dana Rainford as vice president of people and talent. Rainford previously served as head of human resources at Westwood Financial.
Kourtney Day returned to entertainment company Jim Henson’s Creature Shop as senior director of business development. Day mostly recently served as business development manager for themed entertainment at Solomon Group.
Decerry Donato is dot.LA's Editorial Fellow. Prior to that, she was an editorial intern at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.