Black Georgia entrepreneurs win prizes in Pharell-backed competition
Summary
The funds are given to the startup in the form of a simple agreement for future equity, which gives money to a competing founder now in exchange for a piece of the company in the future.But the way Black Ambition structures the deal, 50% of the investment essentially ends up being a grant, according to the initiative. Over the past three years, the initiative has dispersed $10 million, according to Felecia Hatcher, CEO of Black Ambition.Only 250 founders out of an undisclosed number of applications made it to the semifinalist stage, which was announced this summer. Over the next several months, semifinalists networked with other founders and had access to business mentors through the program.Ultimately, just 50 were chosen as finalists and of that number, only eight pitched on-stage during Thursdays Demo Day. Miles Tucker, CEO and co-founder of Darknore, an Atlanta-based artificial intelligence tool that tests new software products for bugs, was also one of the eight chosen to pitch on stage. In less than 24 hours after winning second-place, major companies like Mastercard and Amazon reached out to her for potential partnerships, she said.She hopes to use the platform of Black Ambition to grow her revenue to $5 million by the end of next year.Its not over yet, thats the beauty of it, she said.