Braze Launches Call for Applications to Nearly Double “Tech for Black Founders” Grants

Rhea-AI Summary

Braze has announced an open call for applications to its Tech for Black Founders program, offering 15 selected Black-led businesses a year of free access to Braze technology to aid in their growth. This initiative, launched in June 2020, addresses the underrepresentation of Black entrepreneurs in the tech sector, where only 1% receive venture capital backing. Eligible businesses must be bootstrapped, have under 100 employees, and less than $30M in VC funding. The program includes comprehensive customer engagement tools and educational resources.

Positive

• Braze aims to support Black founders with its Tech for Black Founders program by offering a year of free technology and resources.
• The program encourages diversity, equity, and inclusion in the tech industry.
• Braze has expanded its network to over 43 partners to provide comprehensive support for Black entrepreneurs.

Negative

• None.

By providing free technology, community, and mentorship, Braze aims to address social and fiscal inequity in the tech industry.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Braze (Nasdaq: BRZE), the comprehensive customer engagement platform that powers interactions between consumers and the brands they love, today announced an open call for applications to its product grant through the Tech for Black Founders program. The grant will provide 15 recipients with a year of free Braze technology and resources to help Black founders and support their company’s early growth. Eligible and interested Black-led businesses in the U.S. and EMEA can apply here, starting today.

Tech for Black Founders is a first-of-its-kind collaboration established in June 2020 to support and invest in underrepresented entrepreneurs and technologists. Today, only 1% of founders backed by venture capital in the United States are Black. Braze co-founded this joint initiative in partnership with Amplitude, Branch, mParticle, and Radar to offer Black founders access to valuable technology to help scale their businesses. Since its inception, the network has grown to over 43 partners, including Airtable, AWS, Greenhouse, Notion, and Stripe.

“By enabling greater access to tech resources, Braze is committed to promoting diverse industry representation and opportunity. We’re proud of how the program has grown, and we look forward to further expanding our Tech for Black Founders community,” said Rod McLeod, VP of Social Impact at Braze. “As a technology leader, we will remain accountable for increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in our industry and plan to further expand efforts supporting underserved and underrepresented communities in the year ahead.”

Last year, Braze provided grants to 16 Black-founded businesses in the U.S. For example, Plain Sight, a social platform dedicated to facilitating networking in virtual spaces, leveraged Braze’s technology to drive personalized communications, optimize user experiences and increase retention.

“By leveraging Braze technology, we’ve been able to scale personalized engagements and create more curated connections between our users,” said James Chapman, Founder and CEO at Plain Sight. “The Tech for Black Founders program has provided valuable technology and people resources, and I’ve been impressed by the support of the Braze team welcoming us as a truly integrated and a valued member of their community.”

Grant Details and Process

To be eligible for the grant program, applicants must meet certain criteria including:

• Identify as a Black founder in the U.S. or EMEA
• Bootstrapped business or less than $30M in VC funding
• Have fewer than 100 employees

For the 15 businesses selected to participate, the program will offer:

• Platform access and education including a free Growth package for 12 months, with onboarding services and over 25 hours of educational content in Braze LABs.
• Customer Engagement capabilities including unlimited push notifications, webhooks, and in-app/in-browser messaging for up to 250,000 monthly active users; email costs covered up to 10M emails and two IP addresses.

For more information on eligibility and the application process, visit the website here.

About Braze
Braze is a leading comprehensive customer engagement platform that powers interactions between consumers and brands they love. With Braze, global brands can ingest and process customer data in real time, orchestrate and optimize contextually relevant, cross-channel marketing campaigns and continuously evolve their customer engagement strategies. Braze has been recognized as one of Fortune's 2021 Best Workplaces in New York, Fortune's 2021 Best Workplace for Millennials, and 2021 UK Best Workplaces for Women by Great Place to Work. The company is headquartered in New York with offices in Austin, Berlin, Chicago, London, San Francisco, Singapore, and Tokyo. Learn more at braze.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated growth and benefits of Braze’s social programs. These forward-looking statements are based on Braze’s current assumptions, expectations and beliefs, and are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties, assumptions and changes in circumstances that may cause Braze’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Further information on potential factors that could affect Braze’s results is included in Braze’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2021 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange on December 21, 2021. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent Braze’s views only as of the date of this press release, and Braze assumes no obligation, and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005291/en/

Press:

Quincy Zhai

quincy.zhai@braze.com

Source: Braze

FAQ

What is the Tech for Black Founders program by Braze?

The Tech for Black Founders program by Braze provides 15 selected Black-led businesses a year of free access to Braze technology and resources to support their growth.

Who can apply for the Braze Tech for Black Founders grant?

Eligible applicants must identify as Black founders in the U.S. or EMEA, have fewer than 100 employees, and be bootstrapped or have less than $30M in VC funding.

When was the Tech for Black Founders program established?

The Tech for Black Founders program was established in June 2020.

What does the Braze grant program include?

The grant program includes a free Growth package for 12 months, unlimited customer engagement capabilities, and over 25 hours of educational content.

How many businesses received grants from Braze last year?

Last year, Braze provided grants to 16 Black-founded businesses.