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NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo has launched a venture capital firm. According to Bleacher Report, the Milwaukee Bucks player has introduced Build Your Legacy Ventures (BYL). The venture capital firm, backed by institutional investors and tech veterans, aims to funnel investments into the sports and entertainment sectors. As noted in a press release, the firm will be “driven by the Antetokounmpo family’s dedication to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship.” “I’m incredibly energized to launch BYL Ventures as a way to give back and support the next generation of visionaries,” Antetokounmpo, founder and general partner of BYL Ventures, said in the release. “This fund is not just about capital; it’s about forging partnerships and opening my network to accelerate the growth trajectory for companies. I want to help other entrepreneurs, especially those who have faced barriers, to grow and succeed. BYL Ventures will be focused on finding people with big dreams and helping them make...
NFL Star Randy Moss is scaling his presence in the restaurant space. As previously reported by AFROTECH™, Moss became an investor in Brittany Tolliferreo’s Philadelphia, PA-based restaurant chain, Chick-A-Boom, in 2023. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Tolliferreo reached out to Moss via direct message, and then he later liked a sponsored Chick-A-Boom post in 2022, sparking further conversation. “We got on a couple of Zoom calls, and he came here, tasted the product, and loved it. From there, he became my partner,” she told the outlet. Speaking on the investment in a press release, Moss commented: “I’m a chicken lover. Not only was I impressed by the food, but after hearing Brittany’s story and understanding that a lot of our same goals and morals align, it was only right to invest.” Today, Moss is expanding his involvement in the company, now operating under the name Crisppi’s Chicken. In December 2023, he brought the restaurant to his home state with the help of Tolliferreo...
Keke Palmer became a millionaire by the age of 12. In 2004, the Chicago native landed her first film role in “Barbershop 2: Back in Business” . Her breakout role came in 2006 with “Akeelah and the Bee” and just a year later, she showcased her acting skills as Mary Thomas in Disney’s “Jump In!” alongside Corbin Bleu. By that time, Palmer’s parents had already hired a business manager—a strategic decision aimed at ensuring financial transparency. “They wanted me to know that they they weren’t the ones controlling my money. They had heard these stories and my mom said I don’t want money to come in between me and my child,” Palmer said on “Club Shay Shay.” Palmer also benefited from a Coogan account, which was designed to hold a percentage of child star’s earnings. She added, “That always was there regardless of anything else.” Palmer also spoke on the intricacies of reaching millionaire status by 12. “I became a millionaire at 12. To expect everybody to have become a millionaire at 12...
Founder Telfar Clemens has always resisted conforming to the fashion industry. Divorcing Fashion Industry At Inception Early on, he embraced a bold sense of individuality, developing his own unique style that set him apart. This nonconformity often clashed with the uniform policies of the schools he attended, and he was similarly uninterested in following the traditional dress codes of his Liberian heritage. “I always have been interested in clothes. I’ve always had my own perspective on what I wanted to wear… I come from West African parents. I’m from Liberia and there’s a certain way of how you should dress and how you should carry yourselves and I completely was not with that, ” Clemens mentioned on “The Breakfast Club.” In 2005, Clemens introduced the world to Telfar, a New York-based unisex fashion brand designed to stand apart from the traditional fashion industry. From the outset, he distanced himself from the industry, viewing it as too closed-minded to embrace the...
Cliff Vmir continues to build on his success as a seasoned hair stylist. Turning His Passion For Hair Into A Brand Vmir began showing interest in hair care at 8 years old. However, at 14, when his parents separated, he fully committed to his passion. This allowed him to financially support his mother, who had been out of work for three months due to a knee replacement. “It wasn’t until my mom and my dad split up completely, when I was 14, that I was able to kind of go in full-throttle and understand that this isn’t something that I wanna just play around with. This is something that I can make money from,” Vmir told AFROTECH™ in an interview. “It’s crazy ’cause it’s something that I love to do… I also feel like with my mom and my dad splitting up, it was just kind of something that financially I wanted to help my mom. So not saying that I was forced into it, but I felt like it was only right for me to just use what I have to get what we need, and I was able to kind of help support...
WNBA star Angel Reese has exceeded the expectations of her former agents. During a panel discussion at ComplexCon 2024, Nov. 16-17, in Las Vegas, NV, the Chicago Sky player looked back on the discouraging advice she received from her former agents, who had low expectations for her success with name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals. “I used to be with an agency, and I’m not with the agency anymore,” the 22-year-old explained on the panel, moderated by Speedy Morman , according to Complex. “And initially when I was with the agency, that specific agency told me I was never going to make over $2,000. … And that was when NIL first started.” Reese would prove those agents wrong. She has secured a slew of NIL deals with companies that include: Wingstop McDonald’s Raising Cane’s Amazon Sonic Bose Banter by Piercing Pagoda TurboTax Xfinity JanSport Outback Steakhouse In April 2024, her NIL valuation had reached $1.8 million, notes The Street. Reese is now working with new agents, Jeanine...
Working side by side, Ameer Brown and his brother, Anthony, have made strategic strides as founders. Ameer and Anthony trace their roots to a Jewish hospital in Queens, NY, on Long Island. From a young age, rapper Nas, also from New York, was an influential figure in their lives. In their later years as founders, that admiration would come full circle. The pair, both HBCU graduates , lead Breakr—a company empowered by technology that fosters collaboration between artists, labels, brands, and creators to create successful social marketing campaigns, its website mentions. Breakr removes barriers to entry, welcoming users at any stage of their journey and supporting them with AI-powered deal presets, contract templates, and automated payment processes. “At the end of the year, our clients don’t have to do 1099s and tax compliance paperwork with thousands and thousands of influencers that they’ve contracted and worked with across the year…So they’ll make it easy for you to get the...
Mathew Knowles has made a name for himself in the business world without the help of investors. Entrepreneurship In His DNA The businessman was seated center stage during the Building Wealth Today for Tomorrow Financial Empowerment Summit held at the UIC Forum in Chicago, IL, on Oct. 12, 2024. The event is designed to connect the community to tools, resources, and conversations that encourage the desire to create long-term wealth . “Bringing Mathew Knowles to our summit reflects our dedication to teaching real, sustainable wealth-building principles,” said Melissa Conyears-Ervin, the city’s treasurer . “His focus on generational wealth and self-funded success aligns with our goal of helping Chicagoans achieve true economic mobility. At the Treasurer’s Office, we believe everyone deserves access to the knowledge and resources to build wealth on their own terms, creating a legacy that will benefit future generations.” Photo Credit: Antwan Collins Knowles is well regarded as the...
Queen Latifah is helping a Black woman-owned soul food restaurant receive a well-deserved blessing. During a taping of “Street You Grew Up On,” hosted by actress Kerry Washington, it was revealed that Latifah selected Newark, NJ-based Vonda’s Kitchen to receive a $10,000 financial award. The investment is made possible through a partnership between fintech platform Intuit QuickBooks and Washington, aimed at fostering discussions around entrepreneurship, community, and mentorship. As part of the initiative, featured guests are given the opportunity to select a small business to receive funding, according to information shared with AFROTECH™. As a Newark native, the selection was full circle and Latifah emphasized its importance, believing the funds would be well-used under the leadership of owner Vonda McPherson. According to the company website, McPherson transitioned into entrepreneurship after a corporate career with Fortune 500 companies, opening her first restaurant in 1988....
Michael Jordan has invested in a VC firm aiming to align itself with multiple unicorns. Sportico reports that Jordan has invested an undisclosed amount in the fourth fund of Courtside Ventures, a firm focused on the sectors of sports, media, entertainment, technology, and gaming. According to Crunchbase, the firm was founded by Deepen Parikh and Vasu Kulkarni. With over $200 million in assets under management, Courtside Ventures’ portfolio includes companies such as Veo (hardware and software subscription); Winzo (social gaming); The Athletic (sports media brand); and Betty (social casino platform), among others. “When we started Courtside in 2016, we did so out of desperate market need,” a statement from Courtside Ventures’ blog post reads . “Not only was there no venture fund that focused on sports, but existing VCs would run to the hills every time they saw a sports deal. This left entrepreneurs constantly having to look for alternate sources of funding, mostly from the very...
Middle schooler Eniola Shokunbi is making a significant impact in classrooms. Shokunbi, then a fifth-grade student at Commodore MacDonough STEM Academy in Middletown, CT, was tasked with developing a solution to address future pandemic challenges in collaboration with her classmates, Shoppe Black reports . This inspired the creation of an air filter system designed to combat COVID-19 and cold viruses within classrooms, as reported by NBC Connecticut. “The air goes through all the sides,” Shokunbi explained to NBC Connecticut. “And it comes out of the top, so it filters in and out.” Her device, which cost $60 to make, is composed of a box fan, four furnace filters, duct tape, and cardboard. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in North Carolina further validated the invention. “It showed that the air filter removed over 99% of viruses in the air,” Shokunbi told NBC Connecticut. “And that it was effective.” Shokunbi and her classmates installed the air filters, which have been in...
Angel Reese plans to retire her mother. Reese, born in Randallstown, MD, on May 6, 2002, to Michael Reese and Angel Webb Reese, has grown into an influential athlete, already making her mark in the WNBA by holding the record for most single-season rebounds — before being surpassed by A’ja Wilson. Reese’s athletic genes come from her parents , both of whom played basketball in college. Her mother, Angel Webb Reese, played for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and was inducted into its Athletics Hall of Fame, notes Today. She also had a professional career in Luxembourg. Michael Reese played at Boston College and Loyola University (Maryland) before competing overseas in Luxembourg, Austria, and Portugal, mentions USA Basketball. “My whole family played basketball. My aunts played basketball, my brother plays basketball, my grandparents played basketball. So, it kind of was like, ‘You’re gonna do this,’” Reese told Just Women’s Sports. Unsurprisingly, Reese picked up...
Socium has raised new funding to expand its reach within Francophone Africa. The company, founded by Samba Lo (CEO) and Serigne Seye (chief operating officer), began as a recruitment website before scaling to offer HR solutions for businesses, notes TechCrunch. Per its LinkedIn, company offerings include: Payroll management Workflow management Performance evaluation Document management “Our customers started to ask us if we had solutions for payroll, time management, and performance management. So, we decided to build a global HR platform to help HR teams manage all their processes,” Lo told TechCrunch. Thanks to Socium, more Africa-based companies can now launch their businesses within a matter of weeks in the French-speaking countries. The company also leverages artificial intelligence to vet CVs and create job descriptions, TechCrunch notes. “Focus on people means focus on performance, their evaluation and competence, and career path for each individual,” Lo added. “And for this...
An end may be near for a lawsuit involving Shaquille O’Neal. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, O’Neal was named in a class action lawsuit filed against the Astrals Project in a Florida federal court in 2023. He was one of the founders of the project, along with music manager Brian Bayati and O’Neal’s son Myles O’Neal. “Plaintiffs in the billion $ FTX class action case just served @SHAQ outside his house,” the Moskowitz Law Firm shared on X at the time. “His home video cameras recorded our service, and we made it very clear that he is not to destroy or erase any of these security tapes because they must be preserved for our lawsuit.” The Astrals Project initially launched the “Shaq Signature Pass,” marketed as the “first consumable NFT of its kind,” per The Hollywood Reporter. It claimed the signing technology had “wide-ranging applications.” In total, Astrals included 10,000 NFT (non-fungible token) 3D avatars and a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) intended for...
Couple Felicia and Winchel Elibert are helping Black-owned businesses create wealth. According to 95.5 WSB, the pair are behind a four-acre Fayetteville, GA shopping plaza that will be home to several businesses. Winchel already owned multiple barbershops, while Felicia worked as a nurse and is the founder of several Cleansing Waters Wellness Center locations. WSB-TV Atlanta News mention that the Eliberts also owned a Smoothie King for several years. Entering new territory with the plaza was a “journey” that began with a sign located across from their Smoothie King. “Right across from our Smoothie King and Cleansing Waters location in Fayetteville, there was a sign that said land for sale,” Felicia told 95.5 WSB. “We made a phone call to ask about the land, which was at a good price. We checked with our realtor and were encourage that this was a really good investment.” For three to four years, the couple worked to develop the idea for the shopping center, which was ultimately named...