In a world where more than 80% of venture firms don’t have a single Black investor, and just 1% of venture-funded startup founders are Black, there’s serious work that needs to be done to combat founder inequality in the tech sector. To help support that work, Braze teamed up with other leading technology providers (including Amplitude, Branch, mParticle, and Radar) back in 2020 to offer free software to early-stage startups led by Black founders.

To build on the early success of this program, Braze is pleased to announce the expansion of Tech for Black Founders (T4BF) this year with the introduction of 15 new grants. To be eligible for consideration, interested participants must be a Black founder based in EMEA or the US with a company that has fewer than 100 employees, and is either bootstrapped or has received under $30 million in venture funding.

“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.”

Since its inception, the T4BF network has grown to over 43 partners including Airtable, AWS, Foursquare, Greenhouse, Notion, and Stripe. T4BF has been recognized by TrustRadius, the business technology review site, as part of the company's 2021 Tech Cares Awards, and by Tech in Motion—a North American event series with a mission to bring local tech communities together to meet, learn, and innovate—which honored it with a Best Tech For Good award for the New York City region.

To date, a total of 16 US-based, Black-founded businesses have taken advantage of free access to Braze technology and support resources through the T4BF program. Selected participants receive Braze platform access and education, and a free Customer Success package at the Growth level for 12 months, including onboarding services, as well as unlimited push notifications, webhooks, and in-app messaging for up to 250k monthly active users; email costs are covered up to 10 million emails and two IP addresses.

“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 social platform 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.”

To apply for a Braze Tech fo Black Founders grant, founders should complete the T4BF application form. To learn more about T4BF and for a full list of partner companies, visit the official website.