Black & Found: Recent Episodes
Imperial Enterprise Lab
Black & Found is a new Imperial College podcast dedicated to hearing the voices and experiences of black/black mixed heritage founders. The podcast will explore the entrepreneurial journeys of individuals at different stages within the Imperial Enterprise eco-system and beyond.
In this episode, you’ll hear a fascinating and wide-ranging discussion with Ezechi Britton MBE, Principal/CTO for Impact X Capital. Amongst other things, Ezechi speaks passionately about the potential and talent within Black entrepreneurship, the importance of metrics and statistics, growing up in South London and how his own entrepreneurial journey really broadened his horizons.
Companies/organisations Ezechi mentions in this episode:
- Impact X
- Code Untapped
- Black Seed
- Cornerstone Partners
- Octopus ventures
- Bethnal Green Ventures
- Tech Nation
- Foundervine
- Coding Black Females
- BYP network
Reports referenced in this podcast include:
- The Black Entrepreneurs report,2021 published by Aspire Consultancy and authored by Dr Carlton Brown
- The Extend Ventures report on ‘Diversity beyond Gender’, November 2020
In this fourth episode, we hear from the talented Nana Nyantekyi, co-founder of Spiny.ai and Imperial alum. He speaks insightfully on a range of subjects including the importance of mentorship, the power of sport, intrapreneurship,West African culture amongst other things.
Some of the organisations/people Nana mentions/recommends:
- Imperial Enterprise Lab
- Spiny.ai (the company where Nana is co-founder)
- Paystack – Stripe acquired Nigerian’s Paystack for $200M+ to expand into the African continent
- Impact Hub Accra
- Meltwater Incubator, Ghana
- Tendayi Viki, author of The Lean Product Lifecycle
In this episode you will hear about the inspiring journey of Imperial alum Nate Macabuag who is the Founder of the incredible Koalaa Soft Prosthetics which provides comfy, soft prosthetic arms and personalised support, for babies, kids, and adults.
Unboxing Koalaa prosthetics! – please watch!
Some of the organisations Nate mentions in this episode:
Imperial BE
Imperial College Schools outreach
The Mayor’s Entrepreneur Competition
Royal Academy of Engineering
London & Partners
In this episode, Michelle Palmer (CEO and Founder of the Difference Engine) discusses her fascinating journey as a female founder, of black mixed heritage, from a working-class background. For more about Imperial College/Imperial Enterprise Lab:
Imperial Enterprise Lab
Imperial BE
Imperial’s Presidential Scholarship for Black Students
Imperial Venture Mentoring Service
For more information on Michelle’s company:
TheDifferenceEngine – “Powered by engineers, we use our unique experience to partner with our clients, globally, to find them the very best people to grow their businesses”
Further information on some of the organisations Michelle mentioned/recommends:
Women President’s Organisation - “The WPO is the premier membership organization for women leaders of privately held, multi-million-dollar companies.”
MSDUK - “MSDUK brings together innovative and high-growth Ethnic Minority businesses with global corporations committed to creating an inclusive and diverse supply chain”
WEConnect - “The team at WEConnect International is dedicated to bringing corporate buyers and women-owned businesses together”.
Click on the following links to find out more:
Imperial Enterprise Lab
Imperial BE
Imperial’s Presidential Scholarship for Black Students
For more information on Alberta’s ventures, please click on the following links:
Alberta Asafo-Asamoah: LinkedIn, twitter, instagram
AlgebraInTheCity: website, instagram
Vetemonde: Instagram
For further information on the organisations that Alberta mentioned, please click on the following links:
Foundervine
Black Valley
The Cornerstone Angel Network
Google Black Founders Fund
Statistic and quote mentioned in this episode was taken from: Sifted, Black entrepreneurs receive just 0.24% of capital, report shows | Sifted