Hello Geekz Insider,

Earlier this month, Blue Origin successfully completed its 11th human spaceflight, NS-31, for the New Shepard program, making it the 31st New Shepard mission overall.

The mission was an all-female crew consisting of Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez.

According to Phil Joyce, Senior Vice President of New Shepard. “Each of these women is a storyteller who will use their voices—individually and together—to channel their life-changing experience today into creating a lasting impact that will inspire people across our planet for generations.”

UrbanGeekz wrote a deep dive into the stories of each of these women.

Let’s check out this week’s stories.

Top Stories 📰

Story 1: Blue Origin completed its 11th human spaceflight, NS-31 for the New Shepard program. This is the first all-female flight crew since Valentina Tereshkova’s solo spaceflight in 1963.

Story 2: London-based insurtech unicorn Marshmallow has announced a new funding round of $90 million to accelerate its international expansion plans.

Story 3: In an exclusive interview with UrbanGeekz, Sequoia Blodgett delved into her multifaceted journey as a woman in tech and the inspiration behind her latest project, Lexore.

Hot News 🔥

1. Symphonic Capital has announced the closing of its $13.5 million inaugural fund that aims to close access gaps in health and wealth.

2. Promise Phelon’s Growth Warrior Capital VC firm has closed its first fund with $26M to invest in early-stage enterprise artificial intelligence startups.

3. Bill Gates-backed Arnergy has secured a $15 million Series B extension to expand solar access in Nigeria.

4. Kevin Hart’s Coramino Fund is accepting applications for its $10,000 grant, including a training to help small business owners learn more about AI. 

5. The Global Gaming League (GGL) has secured $10 million for its Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) round and designated T-Pain as Strategy Director.

   Opportunities - Accelerators/Funding, Events.💼 

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. 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.

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

 Grants💰

$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:

$100k | The UNICEF Venture Fund is seeking applications from start-ups developing cutting-edge tech solutions to improve access to quality health care and services and ensure the socio-economic participation of women and girls.

🗓️ Apply by 5/8: 

$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:

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:

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

🗓️ Apply by 4/15

$23k | The Dream Business Bundle Grant is packed with over $23k in cash and incredible small business services to fuel your growth and supply you with everything you need to be successful as an entrepreneur.

🗓️ Apply by 4/30

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🎟️

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: Menlo Park, Califonia

Roadmap to Billions is an award-winning, immersive tech conference built by Black women tech entrepreneurs, for Black women tech entrepreneurs. Over the past eight years, it has empowered thousands of innovators with education, inspiration, and access, sparking critical conversations between founders and funders, and helping more than 25 entrepreneurs secure nearly $30M in venture capital funding.

Join our very own chief exec, Kunbi Tinuoye, as she takes the stage to speak at this powerful two-day event featuring workshops, masterclasses, and AI training, all designed to deliver actionable business guidance from top tech entrepreneurs and industry experts.

Register and save 20% with code RTBSPEAKER20 at lu.ma/rtb2025

Date: May 15-16, 2025

Location: New York

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