Today, I’m proud to announce that Deposits has been named as one of 50 startups selected for the third Google for Startups Black Founders Fund - Joseph Akintolayo
In addition to joining a community of 176 accomplished alumni and newly empowered founders and benefiting from access to support from teams across Google, Deposits will receive $100,000 in non-dilutive capital and up to $100,000 in Google Cloud credits.
I am humbled that Deposits will benefit from this incredible effort to provide a springboard for Black founders in the United States. Over the past two years, the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund has provided $10M in cash awards and support to promising founders in the US. The investments have created a halo effect by helping founders raise over $127M in additional venture capital in the US. In addition to capital, the program offers warm introductions to influential investors and recognized innovators, accountability partners and group sessions, individualized advisory opportunities, and even therapy to help founders maintain mental health.
In the U.S., less than one percent of venture capital goes to Black founders. Another way of saying this is over 99% of venture funding never makes it into the hands of founders who look like me. Minority-led startups undoubtedly face barriers as we raise capital, seek the best partners and earn business trust. Google for Startups’ Black Founders Fund is helping take these barriers down.
I am also particularly inspired to be selected because we intend to pay it forward. Deposits itself is focused squarely on opening access to financial power. We believe sophisticated financial experiences shouldn’t be limited to those with generational wealth. We want literally everyone to be able to bank on their phone, get a loan through an app – even to trade stocks. By removing the technical barriers for established and emergent financial brands, Deposits is removing barriers to financial inclusion for the communities they serve.
I’m grateful to the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund, not only for our selection, but also for its long term efforts to help improve the trajectory of minority entrepreneurship in this country. We intend to use these resources and honor the larger effort by scaling our vision to help people in each and every community build wealth.
