Google Awards $500K To 5 Black Start-Up Companies In Austin

Austin TX

27 September, 2021

3:03 PM

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AUSTIN, TX —Google has awarded $500,000 to five Austin Black startup companies as a part of its second $5M Google for Startups Black Founders Fund, officials announced Wednesday. The five Austin companies were one of 50 founders to receive $100,000 each for their startups. Officials said the fund is designed for Black founders who are building great companies yet are often locked out of access to the funding that is critical to the success. The local companies included CustomerX.i, a customer intelligence and marketing automation platform; Journey Foods, a company that addresses food science inefficiencies and problematic global supply chains; Sandbox Commerce, which helps traditional retailers launch custom, rapidly scalable mobile apps; The Mentor Method, an enterprise platform that helps companies keep and develop their diverse talent via mentorship; and Tradeblock, a social marketplace that enables sneaker collectors to safely connect and trade collections. Live in Austin? Click here to subscribe to our free breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox and mobile devices. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and download our free mobile app on Android or iPhone. The awards are non-dilutive, which means the founders are not giving up any equity in the company in exchange for the funding, officials said. The fund also includes technical support from tools and teams across Google, including as much as $120,000 in donated search Ads from Google.org and up to $100,000 in Google Cloud credits. Last year, Google for Startups gave 76 Black-led startups up to $100,000 in non-dilutive funding, helping them keep their doors open, pay their employees, and focus on building their businesses. Those who received awards last year went on to raise more than $50 million in capital and 80 percent of recipients used the funding to create jobs. "The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund embodies our mission of helping underrepresented founders grow their businesses. We are excited to continue the fund and contribute funding to Black founders, with no strings attached. Black founders currently receive less than 1 percent of total VC funding," says Jewel Burks Solomon, Head of Google for Startups US. "We heard loud and clear from the 2020 fund recipients that Google for Startups and Goodie Nation have been crucial to their success not only through funding, but through community, mentorship, network connections and technical expertise." In addition to the five companies in Austin, three companies in Houston and two companies in the Dallas area were elected to join the second cohort of the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund.