Influencers alike gathered at Google Fiber on Thursday, Dec.8 for DivInc’s inaugural Demo Day.
The event showcased ten diverse technology entrepreneurs who participated in the organization’s 12-week pre-accelerator program, where they were given access to investors, workshops and technical experts.
Mentors enthusiastically introduced techpreneurs to the stage as they pitched their company to a packed audience.
On stage, Redenim founder Kelly Ernst described her company’s vision as straightforward, saying, “We want you to get in our pants.” Redenim is a marketplace for designer jeans for affordable lease through a membership program.
Ernst told the Austin Urban Post that the growth she experienced while at DivInc was tremendous compared to last year.
“If you are not focusing on what you are doing, your company is going to flounder,” said Ernst. “My company would not be what it is [today] if were not for DivInc… and their leadership team’s ability to help bring focus to what we are doing.”
Plume founder, Bobby Menefee
Bobby Menefee, founder and CEO of Plume — a millennial solution to building credit through a mobile app — held the same sentiments as Ernst toward DivInc, which was formed to address the lack of diversity in the tech startup ecosystem.
“The 12-week program, it was a significant opportunity for me. It really [allowed] me to get my foot in the door,” said Menefee. “I learned so much… I feel like I [am hopefully carrying] this momentum going forward.”
At the event, DivInc also announced that they are currently accepting applications for their next group of technology entrepreneurs.
Co-founder Preston James expressed his enthusiasm for the completion of the organization’s inaugural program.
“It’s an amazing feeling. It’s very gratifying and I am extremely proud of the founders for the progress they’ve made,” he said.
To view all those who participated in the program, visit divinc.org.
As startup companies like DivInc and Urban Co-Lab develop, it’s becoming evident that Austin’s community is working to cultivate inclusion in the tech field.
DivInc, a local nonprofit dedicated to championing diversity in the startup industry, launched its 12-week pre-accelerator program in September to help “foster the growth and development of ethnically diverse and women-led tech companies,” according to the organization’s website.
DivInc’s CEO Preston James told the Urban Post that he believes Austin possesses the infrastructure necessary “to lead the nation in becoming a top ecosystem for diverse entrepreneurs.”
“The infrastructure and resources for a highly successful ecosystem are here already, still growing and getting better each year,” he said.
Austin continues to top vitality lists. The Kauffman Index, a site that examines startup activity in major metropolitan areas, ranked the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area No. 1 this year.
The city can attribute much of those accolades to its much-talked about, community-friendly business mentorship model.
“Based on what we are experiencing at DivInc there are a lot of influential, sincere and passionate people who want to affect change as it pertains to greatly improving diversity in the tech startup ecosystem,” said James.
Urban Co-Lab, a shared-work community for urban innovators, examined the startup and tech community’s relationship with minority entrepreneurs in its inaugural Austin Startup Diversity Report.
The report notes that while Austin is more diverse than the United States as a whole – not one group accounts for more than 50 percent of the city’s racial demographics – Hispanics and African Americans earn $21,000 less per year than Asians and whites.
Nevertheless, Hispanic-owned businesses continue to pop up in Austin. The city leads in women entrepreneurship and continues to be one of the top cities where minorities are doing economically well.
Primpii Founder, Dr. Tausha Robertson
Dr. Tausha Robertson, founder of the beauty-sharing app Primpii, said that as a black female entrepreneur, she has learned to navigate Austin’s small tech community in order “to find out the best practices and where resources are” from like-minded business owners.
“I do think that in Austin, if you take advantage of some of the meet-ups and events held around town, you can get the ball rolling. I wasn’t a tech person before I started this venture,” said Robertson.
Access to resources such as investors, workshops and technical experts are some of the key elements that DivInc provides through its classes.
James acknowledges that it’s more difficult for women and people of color to acquire the capital necessary to fund their startups. “This network will include mostly people who don’t look like them, so they need to get used to that, embrace it and go with it,” he said.
On a national level, women and underrepresented groups are 2.6 percent and 21.7 percent less likely to raise private equity funding, according to Urban Co-Lab’s report. They are also approximately 20 percent less likely to raise venture capital than their white male counterparts.
Much of that is due to the majority of the nation’s top venue capital firms being predominantly white and male, according to the report.
The National Venture Capital Association did however label Austin as No. 12 on their list of the top metropolitan areas in the country. As the Austin American-Statesman reported, a total of 99 Austin-area deals received $740 million in venture capital last year.
James suggests that strong collaboration – not just locally but nationwide – is key to addressing diversity issues happening across tech communities in the U.S.
“I would love it if in 10 years there would be no need for a DivInc because the startup ecosystem has changed to be instinctively inclusive and we’ve minimized the biases,” said James.
Austin Urban Post 