Black Founders Meetup – the Opportunity in the US

Join our Black Founders Meetup and extend your business network across the UK and US.

The London & Partners Business Growth Programme and Los Angeles teams are pleased to invite you to this interactive panel discussion, focused on supporting Black founders in the UK connect into the US.

In this interactive virtual session, you will have the opportunity to:

• Understand the US ecosystem and available business support
• Hear from key players in the US ecosystem
• Share best practices
• Build a stronger network for your community
• Meet and network with other Black founders

Meet the Moderator:
Bayo Adelaja: Bayo is the founder and CEO of Do it Now Now, which she founded in 2016 in response to gaps in the support available to Black innovators building tech companies and social enterprises in the UK and across Africa. The initiatives Bayo developed for Do it Now Now have led to awards by both Harvard University and Oxford University's Business Schools for her work to create and foster opportunities for under-served communities through technology.

Meet the Panellists:

Makisha Boothe, Founder of Sistahbiz Global Network (Denver, Colorado)
Sistahbiz is a nonprofit, tax exempt, business accelerator for Black women entrepreneurs. They provide training and coaching, technical assistance and access to capital for bootstrapping Black women business owners looking to grow and scale their business.

Luis Martinez, CEO of We Tha Plug (San Diego, California)
We Tha Plug is a for-profit organisation that advocates in fostering an entrepreneurial ecosystem for underrepresented communities, specifically Pan African and Latinx, on a global level. Their team provides mentorship and coaching to founders and startup companies at all levels from ideation, pre-seed and series A funding.

Kimberly Higgins, Senior Associate at Pillsbury Law, BOSS Lab (Los Angeles, California)

Steven Farmer, Partner at Pillsbury Law, BOSS Lab (London, United Kingdom)

Pillsbury BOSS Lab focuses on helping address systemic inequalities that result in Black founders representing only 1 percent of venture-backed startups. Through the BOSS Lab, lawyers and colleagues specializing in Emerging Growth, Venture Capital and other key disciplines will offer volunteer legal and advisory services, as well as access to Pillsbury’s expansive network, to select Black-owned startups with high-growth potential (both in the US and UK) – their services will value up to an amount in the region of £15,000 / $20,000 per company.

After the panel discussion, the Q&A and networking session will begin, where you will be placed into breakout rooms with our guest speakers.

For more information, please visit the event page.