Hello There…

What would it mean for you, your startup, and your brand’s long-term success if you could understand the mindset of a seasoned investor?

Our interview with one of the most successful U.S. venture capitalists might be your gateway to understanding the essential traits VCs look for in founders, pitching mistakes founders should avoid, and how to cultivate an investor-founder relationship.

Let’s dive in.

Top Stories 📰

Story 1: In UrbanGeekz’s latest feature, we had a no-holds-barred interview with prolific and award-winning investor, Marlon Nichols. He shared valuable gems on how to be successful in your next pitch to investors.

Story 2: Read our deep-dive into Marques Brownlee, better known as MKBHD, one of YouTube’s most influential tech creators, who has amassed over 19.6 million subscribers and more than 4.3 billion views on the platform.

Story 3: Starting from 2025-26 academic year, Harvard University will offer free tuition to students from families earning $200,000 or less starting.

Hot News 🔥

1. Melissa Bradley-led Black Economic Alliance Entrepreneurs Fund is halfway through its goal of raising $50 million to support young and underserved startups.

2. Michael Seibel, an influential Black entrepreneur and investor in Silicon Valley, is transitioning to a “partner emeritus” role at Y Combinator. 

3. Here are Black U.S.-based billion-dollar businesses and their inspirational journeys to the top.

4. Campus, an online accredited two-year community college focused on delivering debt-free degrees, has secured $46M in a new funding round.

5. Kenyan Leta has raised $5 million to help businesses move goods cheaper and faster across Africa.

   Opportunities - Accelerators/Funding, Events.💼 

Accelerators 🚀

1. Y Combinator is accepting applications for the Winter 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.

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

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

4. Up to $15K | Restaurant Business Development Grant Program cohorts will receive 6 months of consultations followed up with educational training services, $15k, and continuous training and services to help maintain their business. 🗓️ Apply by 4/15: 

5. 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: 

   Events🎟️

UrbanGeekz founder and CEO Kunbi Tinuoye will join an impressive lineup of powerhouse women speakers working in STEM and Tech at next month's blackcomputeHER2025 Conference in Atlanta.

BCH2025 is an annual empowering three-day conference that kicks off on April 4. The goal is to support our community of Black women and girls in technology through education and workforce development.

Date: April 4-6, 2025

Location: Atlanta, GA

Bringing together over 1,200 women engineers and leaders, this conference offers networking opportunities and discussions on topics such as workplace culture and technical innovation.

Date: April 17, 2025

Location: Chicago, IL, USA

A new event by Meta focusing on advancements in open-source AI, aiming to aid developers in creating apps and products.

Date: April 29, 2025

Location: To be announced

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.

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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