Durham Black entrepreneurs get up to $100,000 to advance companies

Twelve businesses were chosen for an intensive week of hands-on training with mentors to develop the tools needed to help elevate their companies.

American Underground is the hub for innovative ideas and dreams to take off. Black entrepreneurs, who typically face disparities in financially keeping their dream alive, call this opportunity transformative.

It’s considered the Mecca for tech leadership positioned on Durham’s Black Wall Street.

“It’s very pivotal in changing the narratives that we have. We sit in a city where Black Wall Street created institutions,” said Marshall Williams, founder of Maverick Innovation.

Williams is a former Wake Forest football player turned entrepreneur.

“There was a problem in my performance in that I wanted to get faster but I couldn’t train the way I wanted to,” he said.

Now he runs Maverick Innovation, a sports technology company, which uses performance psychology and technology to help others succeed.

“We’re using some psychology principles and embedded in a software to help people perform better. We’re changing behavior habits. That’s what we’re doing. Right now we are prototyping a fitness wearable to help people want to exercise,” he explained.

“We felt like this was a chance for us to build a really different story to what you see in places like Silicon Valley where the tech scene really isn’t diverse,” said Adam Klein, the director of American Underground.

The Black Founders Exchange program began in 2015 where teams participate in training, mentorship, collaboration, and community.

Google for Startups Black Founders Fund awarded one Durham startup $100K in non-dilutive funding this year.

“It’s game changing because it is so hard to run a company and to expand into keep going,” said Naya Powell, founder of Utopia Spa and Global Wellness.

Powell was among 50 founders from across the U.S. to receive funding from Google for Startups Black Founders Fund.

Utopia is a one-stop-shop for wellness and mental and physical health. The pandemic forced her to transition to a more virtual platform.

“Every time I think about it I get so emotional because I literally didn’t know how much longer I could go when I got that call,” she said.

The HBCU graduate comes from a family of hardworking entrepreneurs. Her passion for wellness is rooted deep in her upbringing.

“I have an affinity towards just empowering people to live their most passionate lives on purpose and seeing people thriving, not surviving. Seeing people holistically healthy and well and just operating in that purpose,” she said.

She explained that entrepreneurs of color, especially women-led businesses, face many challenges getting funding for a startup.

The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund is changing lives and the trajectory for Black business leaders everywhere.

“We want American Underground to be one of the most diverse tech hubs and in order to do that we know we have to have focused programming that we have to address these gaps and these biases that we see,” added Klein.

The Black Founders Exchange, in partnership with American Underground, will be held virtually this year from October 3-8. The selected founders will get support throughout the year to help take their business to the next level.

American Underground is owned by Capitol Broadcasting.