In the heart of South Africa’s rural communities, where chalkboards still reign and digital learning is a distant dream for many, two childhood friends, Marvel Shibambu and Malunghelo Mathonsi, are building a revolution, one lesson at a time,

Their innovation? Novar, a mobile-first learning platform transforming how high schoolers access quality education. 🔥🔥🔥 

Top Stories 📰

Story 1: In an exclusive interview with UrbanGeekz, this duo from a rural village invented the viral ‘Novar app’ to democratize education in South Africa.

Story 2: South Loop Ventures, a Houston-based venture firm, has secured $21 million for its Fund I to support diverse founders and emerging startups.

Story 3: Wave Ventures, Europe’s largest Gen Z-run VC fund, has secured €7 million ($7.8 million) for its third fund, tripling the size of its previous fund. 

Hot News 🔥

1. Fashion tech startup Doji has secured $14 million in seed funding to enhance its AI-powered virtual try-on platform, which uses lifelike digital avatars.

2. Have you read our deep dive on Issa Rae’s journey from debuting Insecure in 2015 to owning the rights to all her intellectual properties today?

3. Twitch streamer Kai Cenat has launched Streamer University, a weekend event aimed at aspiring content creators. 

4. Magic Johnson has donated $500K to Xavier University in honor of Norman C. Francis, the first Black President of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

5. Five Howard University students have earned a $1 million grant for their school after winning the fifth annual Goldman Sachs Market Madness competition.

6. ChurchSpace has announced the close of an oversubscribed $1.2 million funding round to expand its mission to the Midwest. 

   Opportunities - Accelerators/Funding, Events.💼 

Grants💰

1. $150K Investment | Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation aims to find social entrepreneurs with dynamic ideas and nurture them at the early stages with maximum leverage and total commitment.  🗓️ Apply on a rolling basis:

2. 2Up to $100k | Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) is an innovation competition for resilient rebuilding and climate action to welcome the world in 2028.🗓️ Apply by 5/30:

3. $20K | Santander’s Cultivate Small Business helps early-stage entrepreneurs build and sustain food industry businesses, focusing on historically underserved founders in low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods.  🗓️ Apply by 7/8:

4. $20K | Robin Hood Blue Ridge Labs Founder Fellowship will help you validate your idea, build your MVP, and gain real traction with hands‑on workshops, user testing, mentorship, funding, coworking, and network access. 🗓️ Apply by 6/8: 

5. $50K | Progressive Insurance & Hello Alice Driving Small Business Forward Grant supports founders who use a vehicle to power their business — $1M in total awards. 🗓️ Apply by 06/20

6. Up to $15K | The Catalyst Fund by The Roddenberry Foundation makes grants between $2.5k K - $ 15 K to anyone with an early-stage idea or project that addresses pressing global challenges 🗓️ Apply on a rolling basis:

7. Up to $10K | Each qualifying nonprofit has access to up to $10,000 per month in search ads shown on Google.com. Additional Google Ads may be purchased in a separate account. 🗓️ Apply on a rolling basis: 

Accelerators 🚀

1. Y Combinator is accepting applications for the Summer 2025 Batch funding cycle, which will take place from January to March in San Francisco.

2. Techstars Accelerator provides funding, mentorship, hands-on training, and access to Techstars' global network of VC investors, corporate partners, and alumni founders.

3. The Propellant Labs is a startup accelerator offering different programs to help entrepreneurs launch and scale their businesses.

4. FoundersBoost, a global pre-accelerator program, is an equity-free opportunity to take your business to the next level. 

5. Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator® invests in up to ten companies per year (two cohorts of five) focused on fintech, insuretech, digital health, and data analytics.

6. UpTide is an accelerator that gives community-building nonprofits the tools they need to reach the next level of impact.

7. Peachscore + Dealum hosts 12 cohorts annually, offering startup founders the flexibility to join immediately upon acceptance and get up to $150k, no matter when they apply.

8. Social Justice Partners Los Angeles Systems Change Fellowship brings together nonprofit leaders who have lived experience of the issues they're addressing.

Events and Discounts🎟️

Gemini Advanced is now free for college students until the end of the 2026 finals season sign up by June 30th to get the Google One AI Premium plan, which includes Gemini’s deep research tools, instant video generation with Veo 2, smart support in Gmail, Docs, Slides, and Sheets, plus 2TB of storage to power your studies, creativity, and career prep.

Atlanta Tech Week is a week-long series of events, including the AI Summit, community-led meetups, and the Silicon South Summit Showcase, highlighting Atlanta's innovation economy

Date: June 8-13, 2025

Location: Atlanta, GA

RenderATL is a premier technology conference that combines culture, code, and community. It features industry-leading speakers, immersive workshops, and focuses on topics like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Web Development, and Product Management.

Date: June 11 - 13, 2025

Location: Atlanta, GA

Thank you for joining us in this edition of Geekz Insider. We hope our shared stories and opportunities ignite your career goals and entrepreneurial spirit and fuel your drive to innovate. From dynamic founders to transformative AI programs and life-changing grants, there’s something here to inspire everyone.

Enjoy our newsletter? Share it with your network and sign up here to stay informed about the latest in tech, business, and innovation. 

If you're interested in sponsoring our newsletter, drop us a line at [email protected] with ‘Geekz Insider’ in the subject box. Until next time, keep hustling and making those geeky dreams come true!

Written by Stephen Oluwadara and produced by Gugu Nxumalo