What is the Google Ventures?
Google is looking for black-led start-ups based in Ireland to apply for its $4m European Black Founders Fund in an effort to tackle inequality in VC funding. The fund was established in 2020 by the Google for Startups programme to support black founders with necessary funding and support to help their budding businesses thrive.
Start-ups that will be selected through the Black Founders Fund will receive up to $100,000 in cash and up to twice that amount in Google Cloud credits. In addition to the funding, the founders will also receive Google mentorship and product support to give their business a push.
GV originated as an independent venture capital firm for innovative founders. While today we’re formally known as GV, our previous moniker (Google Ventures) is the root of our DNA. With Alphabet as our sole limited partner, we focus all our energy on meeting and supporting founders at the earliest stages of company-building. GV’s operating partners work to support startups across design, equity, diversity & inclusion, talent, and engineering. GV also helps startups interface with Google, providing unique access to the world’s best technology and talent.
The fund has awarded more than $16m to date across Europe, Brazil, Africa and the US, to help black founders secure funding and tackle the problem of inequality in the sector. Another Black Founders Fund recipient, Kenyan-founded and Berlin-based fintech start-up Kwara, recently landed $4m in seed funding for its software services for credit unions in East Africa. Geared towards businesses that have promising potential to grow, accelerators provide similar mentoring and networking opportunities to incubators, but with a heavy focus on growing the business.
