NewME Accelerator, the incubator launched last year to support minority entrepreneurs, just announced its latest group of startups.
In her blog post about the new class (NewME’s second), founder and CEO Angela Benton also talks about the success rate of the first group of NewME alums — 60 percent of them have raised money, adding up to a little more than $500,000 in total funding.
For the current class, Benton says NewME received more than 300 applications. This year’s program will be based in the Hub San Francisco co-working space. Participants in the 12-week program don’t receive funding from NewME, but they get to live and work with a community of entrepreneurs, and they also receive mentorship and access to services from NewME partners. (Last month, the program added Andreessen Horowitz as a partner and sponsor.) In exchange, NewME takes a 4 percent stake in the company.
Even though the second session is just about to start, NewME is already accepting applications for the next class, which starts in August. While most of the promotion around NewME has focused on African-American entrepreneurs, the program is also interested in companies with founders and CEOs from other underrepresented minorities, namely those who are women or Latinos.
Here are the new companies (the descriptions come from NewME):
The Modul.us
Founder: Rachel Brooks
Desription: TheModul.us allows small businesses to affordably configure products through their software.
Butlr
Founder: Andre Gabriel
Description: Butlr gives you the easiest, funnest way to find any kind of deal on the Web.
Ubi Video
Founder: James Norman
Description: We are a discovery entertainment platform that offers the only digital video experience you can call your own.
AgLocal
Founder: Naithan Jones
Description: AgLocal connects independent farmers and producers with the demand of local business and consumers.
Helpr
Founder: Tendekai Muchenje
Description: Helpr is a one stop customer care portal that literally makes customer care as simple as @#*!.
Kairos (still in private testing)
Founder: Amanda McClure
Description: Kairos overlays data on top of real life interactions in the enterprise market using facial recognition and augmented reality.
pictureMENU (still in private testing)
Founder: Christopher Lyons
Description: pictureMenu allows restaurants to bring their menu’s into the 21st century by allowing them to create “smart menus” accessible via tablets and mobile phones. pictureMenu’s tie into a restaurants POS system.
NewME’s mission is to accelerate, educate, and empower underrepresented tech entrepreneurs around the world. One of our most sought after initiatives, NewME Accelerator, is an intimate and intensive 12 week residential program that launches minority and women-led startups. NewME’s vision is to make the technology industry and its wealth creating opportunities accessible to everyone. As a values based, impact driven, and growth oriented social enterprise we’ve built significant momentum among top investors, prominent media (CNN, WSJ, et...
Angela Benton’s experience spans a variety of industries and roles. She has worked at several InterActive Corp businesses including RealEstate.com, LendingTree.com, and RushmoreDrive.com. Additionally she has held roles at Bizjournals.com, UPS, and Homes of Color Magazine. Throughout her career she has worked in a variety of roles in design, marketing, development, and digital strategy. Presently Angela is the Founder & CEO of Black Web Media, which publishes BlackWeb20.com the leading online publication for African-Americans interested in Technology...
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