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Plug In Announces 2023 Tech Accelerator Cohort 4​

Plug In Announces 2023 Tech Accelerator Cohort 4

Los Angeles, CA — May 4, 2023 Plug In South LA is thrilled to announce the participants for their fourth cohort accelerator program. Over 80 applications were submitted, reflecting HealthTech, Digital Media, Climate and Sustainability, and the EdTech sectors. 

After narrowing down the submissions and conducting two rounds of interviews, the promising 12 were selected. This cohort is a dynamic collection of startups from across the country, representing a rich pool of emerging tech businesses and a diversity of  backgrounds and lived experiences.

“We are excited to welcome our new cohort of exceptional talents who are poised to make a difference in their communities and beyond,” said Derek Smith, Founder of Plug In South LA. “We believe that their diverse backgrounds and innovative ideas will propel our organization and society forward, and we are committed to providing them with the support and guidance they need to succeed.”

The companies that will be a part of Cohort 4 are:

  1. At Their Side 
    At Their Side, a HIPAA compliant healthcare status platform, enables healthcare providers to communicate with families easily and efficiently. At Their Side helps healthcare staff focus on patient care and provides families with secure and timely patient update information, improving communication and staff efficiency.
  2. TruO Powered by IonCell 
    TruO Kind Care is a personalized health hub that provides patients with access to healthcare and social care resources, as well as their complete health history and health data collected from wearables and daily living practices. Their mission is to democratize healthcare by empowering patients with agency over their health and providing them with the necessary tools and resources to make informed decisions.
  3. MyVoluntier 
    MyVoluntier, a virtual civic engagement hub designed to inspire social connection around community involvement. MyVoluntier is a centralized tool for managing community initiatives, events, resources, fundraising, and volunteers, driving big collective impact and promoting leaders in community change agency. Their value proposition is “LinkedIn for civic engagement.”
  4. Nutrible
    Nutrible, a technology platform that provides medically-tailored meals, groceries, and access to government programs to vulnerable patients and communities. Their vision is that everyone has access to the food and education they need to be healthy, no matter where they live.
  5. Peadbo
    Peadbo (short for Personal Advisory Board) is a cloud-based platform that allows users to build and manage teams dedicated to their personal or professional growth and create recurring newsletters for their broader network of supporters and advisors.
  6. Postal Petals 
    Postal Petals®, an immersive floral and wellness startup that disrupts the floral industry by using fresh cut flowers and do-it-yourself flower arranging to promote creative expression as a form of mindfulness and self-care. They partner with domestic flower farms to ship bundles of fresh cut flowers nationwide, allowing customers to design their arrangements and participate in both virtual and in-person floral design workshops.
  7. Prosperety
    Prosperety Technologies Inc., a platform that helps everyday people and small businesses achieve financial freedom by using digital advertising fees collected from B2C businesses to pay off consumer debt. Their AI-enabled customer engagement and financial improvement platform is dedicated to providing a solid financial foundation and improving their clients’ finances.
  8. Subler
    Subler is a facility management platform that helps schools and organizers rent space. Subler streamlines the process of renting facilities, increases revenue, and utilization of school campuses.
  9. SwayBrand
    SwayBrand, a marketplace that connects brands with creators for on-location user-generated content. They aim to be the new studio for creators and help brands reach new audiences through authentic, personalized content.
  10. The Crease Beast 
    The Crease Beast, a sneaker accessory company that provides sneaker enthusiasts with an effective product for crease protection. Their ergonomic footwear accessory sleeve is lightweight, breathable, and includes a custom-shaped memory foam pad to prevent creasing caused by natural foot mechanics.
  11. Upward
    Upward is a finance company that helps gig workers save money by maximizing deductions, 1099 tracking, and tax estimates. Their platform boosts savings and ensures gig workers pay less in taxes and keep more of their earnings.
  12. Wingwoman
    Wingwomen is a tech-enabled reproductive health company that provides access to preconception healthcare, fertility education, and postnatal health coaching to women with preexisting conditions.

Over the next 12-weeks, Plug In South LA will work with these remarkable founders to strengthen their business models so that they can become the most competitive disruptors of services and products in their category. Cohort 4 Founders are primed to deeply stimulate opportunities in the Black, Brown & Latinx communities, and we couldn’t be prouder to introduce them to the world! 

Adonica Shaw, Founder & CEO of Wingwomen, says “Wingwomen’s inclusion in the Plug In Accelerator has supercharged our growth and plugged us into the Los Angeles startup ecosystem. We’ve received a lot of strategic guidance that has not only put us back on track to meet our Q3 goals, but also be better positioned to approach investors with a much stronger business.”

About Plug In South LA
Plug In South LA is a dynamic community and innovation hub that brings together entrepreneurs, founders, VCs, innovators, and emerging talent for engaging conversations and networking opportunities. Our mission is to cultivate the next generation of entrepreneurs and leaders by offering modern and contemporary programming focused on entrepreneurship, innovation, technology, and creativity. Our wide range of programs includes conferences, tech demos, workshops, and intimate salons that provide our members with access to valuable resources, knowledge, and expertise. 

One of our most successful programs is the Power Huddles, where under-represented founders at any stage can present their business ideas, challenges, and opportunities to a network of mentors, advisors, industry experts, investors, and other professionals. We also offer a tech accelerator program that meets regularly with a small cohort of founders to help them grow and scale their businesses. 

At Plug In South LA, we are committed to creating a community that encourages collaboration, inclusivity, and diversity. We believe that by bringing together talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, we can foster a culture of innovation and creativity that benefits everyone.

For questions and/or to engage in Plug In’s other programming, visit Plug In South LA’s website or contact Plug In’s PR team at info@pluginsouthla.com.

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Goodie Nation and partner companies to give the bulk of $5.3 million to Black tech companies

A nonprofit that assists diverse founders is collaborating with its partner companies to raise $5.3 million in funding for mostly Black tech businesses.

In addition, Goodie Nation collaborated with computer manufacturer Lonovo to award $10,000 each to 30 diverse-owned small businesses in the United States and Canada. The awards, which will primarily benefit Black founders, are expected to be presented in January.

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Kapor Capital, Black-led VC firm focused On ‘Impact,’ raises $126 Million

Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein founded a venture capital firm in 2011 with a counter-intuitive mission: to generate elite investment returns by investing in impact-focused startups that help level the playing field in financial services, healthcare, and other industries.

Now, more than a decade later, the firm they founded, Kapor Capital, is taking its biggest step yet—becoming one of the largest Black-led firms in a VC landscape that has seen funding to Black entrepreneurs decline this year.

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Racial justice group unveils ‘Black Tech Agenda’ as roadmap for Congress

Rashad Robinson, founder of the racial justice organization Color of Change, believes that for far too long, Silicon Valley behemoths have prioritized profits over the well-being of Black consumers. The group is now laying out its most detailed vision for how lawmakers can intervene.

Some of the group’s ideas, such as limiting discriminatory use of personal data and requiring companies to test their algorithms for biases, have already been enshrined in legislation. However, few, if any, have become law. Others appear to be breaking new ground by urging Washington to take a more aggressive regulatory response.

The agenda calls for the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department to incorporate a civil rights lens into merger reviews, allowing them to “challenge and reverse mergers that fail racial equity impact assessments.”

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Black entrepreneurs face tough adventure landing venture capital

Finding more venture capital for minority and women-owned start-up firms could help the region’s business community in a variety of ways, according to Doug Villhard, director of Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School’s entrepreneurship program.

According to Bloomberg, Black/African American and Hispanic/Latinx founders will receive less than 2% of total venture capital in 2021. Female entrepreneurs received only 2% of venture capital funding.

“This funding gap shortchanges not only underrepresented founders but also the vitality of the entire innovation community,” Villhard said.

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We need more talented Black VCs.

In the venture capital community, things are changing. Two Black celebrities have become venture capitalists, partly to make the industry more inclusive. Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, The Roots’ lead rapper, joined VC firm Impellent Ventures earlier this year and spoke with Forbes about his approach there. And, from the archives, here’s a 2019 cover story about tennis superstar Serena Williams and her venture capital firm Serena Ventures, which she’s expected to focus on more after she retires from the sport. “I want to be remembered for things I’ve done off the court,” she told Forbes, “lives I’ve had an impact on and voices that have been heard through mine.”

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A Black-led tech startup looks to combat racial bias in criminal justice

A Black woman-led startup hopes to change the criminal justice system with its software. However, while it is currently based in Minneapolis, it does not intend to stay for long.

SIID Technologies intends to use machine learning technology to promote racial equity, fairness, and accountability in the judicial and law enforcement sectors. The startup’s ideas, which are now in the prototyping stage, have continued to pique the interest of accelerator programs both within and outside of the state.

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Calendly Enters Forbes’ Cloud 100 List

Black-owned scheduling platform Calendly has been named one of the world’s top private cloud companies on Forbes’ Cloud 100 list. As a member of the Plug In community we would like to say congratulations to the enter Calendly team!

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 Amazon amplifies Black-Owned businesses and entrepreneurs

To commemorate the first anniversary of Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator, the company announces a new initiative to help champion sustainable growth for Black-owned businesses on the Amazon platform in a blog post.

The first step in the new initiative is the creation of a Black-owned Business badge, which allows customers to find and shop for black-owned businesses. The badge, which is currently in testing for select eligible products, can be found in the search results and Additional Details section.

“As part of Amazon’s commitment to supporting and empowering the Black community, we are testing a new badge to make it even easier for customers to identify and shop products that come from Black-owned businesses,” said Dharmesh Mehta, vice president of Amazon Worldwide Selling Partner Services, in a statement. “We are eager to learn how the badge best helps customers discover Black-owned businesses and how it can help Black entrepreneurs succeed and grow in Amazon’s store.”

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Investors detail their red (and green) flags for startups seeking venture dollars

The startup community has been hit where it hurts in recent months: the balance sheet. With inflation rates at all-time highs, a recession looming, and venture capital behemoths like SoftBank threatening a long winter, VC money is becoming increasingly scarce. So, where does that leave startups that rely on that cash to expand their operations?

Our friends at TechCrunch spoke with investors from a variety of growth stages and industry sectors, with a focus on mobility and climate tech, to learn how they see the funding landscape today and what red flags — and green flags — they see for startups looking to raise another round. Most of the investors we spoke with agreed that there is a general pullback and conservatism in funding, with many VCs being much more deliberate in their due diligence.

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