Braze Opens Applications for Third Cohort of Tech For Black Founders Grant

Rhea-AI Summary

Braze (Nasdaq: BRZE) has launched the third cohort of its Tech for Black Founders product grant program, aimed at supporting Black entrepreneurs in Canada, EMEA, and the U.S. The program will select 15 founders to receive 12 months of free access to Braze technology and resources, with applications open until February 19. In 2022, Braze awarded grants totaling $744,000 to 22 Black-founded businesses. The initiative addresses the underrepresentation of Black founders, who received only 1% of VC funding in the U.S. in 2022. Eligible applicants must identify as Black founders, with bootstrapped businesses or less than $30M in VC funding.

Positive

• Launch of third cohort for Tech for Black Founders program, providing 15 Black entrepreneurs with a year of free Braze technology.
• In 2022, $744,000 worth of grants were awarded to Black-founded businesses, enhancing their growth potential.
• The initiative addresses the significant underrepresentation of Black founders in VC funding, aiming to improve access to resources.

Negative

• None.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Braze (Nasdaq: BRZE), the comprehensive customer engagement platform that powers interactions between consumers and the brands they love, has opened applications for the third cohort of its Tech for Black Founders product grant program. In its third year, the program will provide 15 Black entrepreneurs in Canada, EMEA, and the U.S., with a year of free Braze technology and resources that allow them to accelerate growth and scale as rapidly and efficiently as possible. Applications will be accepted now until Feb.19.

"Tech for Black Founders allowed us to scale our marketing communications with Braze, a premium product in the market, despite limited resources and pre-Series A funding," said Winston Vakunta, Director of Marketing at Esusu, a fintech platform that reports on-time rental payments to credit bureaus to improve renters credit scores. "Braze helped us streamline our onboarding and ongoing messaging, improving customer engagement and retention."

“Braze is proud to be a founding member of the Tech for Black Founders Program. It’s been extremely rewarding to see companies like Esusu use Braze, grow their business and eventually raise funding,” said Rod McLeod, VP of Social Impact at Braze. “At Braze, we take a growth mindset to everything that we do. In an effort to go above and beyond offering free products this year, we plan to increase customer success and support functions to focus on fostering community amongst these companies.”

Today, only 1% of founders backed by venture capital in the United States are Black. This figure speaks to the ways in which the odds are stacked against Black technologists and entrepreneurs. Tech for Black Founders was launched in May 2020 by Braze and its founding partners Amplitude, Branch, mParticle, and Radar, to provide Black founders with free access to valuable technology to accelerate their growth, increasing their chances at securing funding and building successful businesses. In 2022, Braze provided grants to 22 Black-founded businesses in EMEA and the U.S., totaling $744,000 in annualized value.

Grant Details and Process:

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

• Identify as a Black founder in Canada, EMEA, or the U.S.
• Bootstrapped business or less than $30M in VC funding
• Have fewer than 100 employees
• Compatible SDK and appropriate Engineering/Marketing resources

Braze offers technology that allows recipients to capture, analyze and act on customer data to engage their customers across channels and create personalized experiences. For the 15 businesses selected to participate, the program will offer:

• Free platform access for 12 months, with opportunity to renew at discounted rates pending business qualifications at time of renewal
• Onboarding services to get you up and running (live within six weeks unless customers also purchase SMS)
• Unlimited Push Notifications, Webhooks, and In-App/In-Browser messaging for up to 250,000 Monthly Active Users
• Email costs covered up to 10 million emails and two IP addresses
• One Currents - Messaging Events integration
• Access to our SDKs and APIs
• Braze documentation and over 25 hours of educational marketing videos and content in Braze Learning
• Access to a dedicated, digital community space and programming events to connect with fellow Black founders from past and present cohorts

Learn more about eligibility and apply 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 2022 Best US and UK Workplaces in Technology, Fortune’s 2022 Best US Workplaces for Women, 2022 UK Best Workplaces for Women by Great Place to Work, and Fortune's 2022 Best US Workplace for Millennials. 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 benefits of the Braze Tech for Black Founders product grant program. These forward-looking statements are based on the current assumptions, expectations and beliefs of Braze, and are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Braze 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 results is included in Braze’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2022 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange (the SEC) on December 14, 2022, and the other public filings of Braze with the SEC. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the views of Braze 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/20230119005046/en/

Media:

Quincy Zhai, Senior Comms Manager

quincy.zhai@braze.com

Source: Braze

FAQ

What is the Tech for Black Founders program by Braze?

The Tech for Black Founders program is an initiative by Braze that provides Black entrepreneurs with free access to technology and resources to help them scale their businesses.

How many entrepreneurs will benefit from the program in 2023?

In 2023, 15 Black entrepreneurs will be selected to participate in the program.

What are the eligibility criteria for the Tech for Black Founders program?

To be eligible, applicants must identify as Black founders, have a bootstrapped business or less than $30M in VC funding, employ fewer than 100 people, and possess compatible SDK and resources.

When does the application period for the program close?

Applications for the program will be accepted until February 19, 2023.

What was the total value of grants awarded by Braze in 2022?

In 2022, Braze awarded grants totaling $744,000 to support Black-founded businesses.