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Y Combinator hires black partner Michael Seibel

Y Combinator has hired its first black partner to aid in the drive to recruit more minority entrepreneurs.  Prominent Silicon Valley entrepreneur Michael Seibel is joining as a  full-time partner to coach high-tech hopefuls, according to a report in USA Today. A key part of his mission will be reaching out to black and Hispanics who are underrepresented in Y Combinator and more broadly in Silicion Valley. Y Combinator is Silicon Valley’s most famous – and most influential – incubator, graduating companies such as Airbnb and Dropbox that have grown into household names. Entrepreneurs who go through the start-up boot camp gain access to money and advice from some of the industry’s most powerful players and get coverage from technology blogs, a major advantage in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

 

 

 

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Report says 12 percent of Africans use phones for non-bank transactions

 

Twelve percent of all adults in sub-Saharan Africa use their phones for non-bank financial transactions, by far the highest rate of any region in the world, according to a report released Wednesday by the World Bank. These figures come from the World Bank’s Global Financial Inclusion database, known as the Findex.  The mobile revolution there is part of a broader trend of democratization of finance around the globe that’s giving far more people a first step into the financial world. The number of adults worldwide with a bank account grew by 700 million between 2011 and 2014, according to the World Bank, an 11 percentage point rise to 62 percent of all adults.

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Business Boom

Moshood designs clothing for men and women, T-shirts and accessories.

With a message to “wear yourself,” Moshood has draped the masses in his loose-fitting, funky fashions for more than 15 years. Hailing from Lagos, Nigeria, the designer planted a seed on Fulton Street in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn that has grown into a cult following of devotees to his “spirit of Afrikan pride.”

Moshood’s eponymous company is one of many businesses started by foreign-born blacks in the United States, whose population has mushroomed over the past 25 years. Here’s a look at diverse business owners in Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago and other cities across the country.