Google has announced the 11 early-stage tech startups set to join the company’s second Google for Startups Accelerator for Black Founders cohort.
The cohort includes 10 American tech startups and one Canadian company, Toronto-based Mommy Monitor, which offers a maternal care services platform.
Google’s 10-week digital accelerator program serves Black-led seed to Series A-stage tech startups based in North America. Black Founders launched its first cohort last year, accepting 12 startups. This year’s cohort, which is set to begin in August, is the first Black Founders cohort that was open to applications from Canadian tech companies.
The cohort includes Toronto-based Mommy Monitor, which offers a maternal care services platform.
“It is such an honour to be chosen to be a part of Google for Startups Accelerator for Black Founders,” said Elsi Amoako, Mommy Monitor’s founder and CEO. “The Black founder community in Canada is thriving and our team is doing the work to get to a space where we are affecting maternal health globally—and we know that being a part of this accelerator will provide the tools, expertise and community needed as we continue in our journey.”
Mommy Monitor offers an easily accessible and culturally safe range of services designed to give parents extra support. In 2016, the startup participated in Bitmaker’s web developer cohort, and, in 2017, Mommy Monitor won $36,000 through the WeWork Creator Awards for its mobile app.
In February 2020, Google launched its first Canadian accelerator in Kitchener-Waterloo, and revealed plans to open three new offices in Canada and hire 3,500 people across the country by 2022.
Since then, the American tech giant has opened five accelerator programs to Canadian startups, including Black Founders, Cloud, Voice AI, Climate Change, and Women Founders.
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Black Founders offers participating startups equity-free support, mentorship from over 20 Google teams, and advice from industry experts. According to Google, selected founders also receive access to Google product credits and technical project partnerships. This year’s cohort features Black founders using tech to solve challenges in medicine, education, water sustainability, real estate, and childcare.
Google said the program will include deep dives and workshops focused on product design, customer acquisition, and leadership development for founders, and hear from a roster of speakers and facilitators “who deliver both technical and nontechnical programming through the lens of their communities.”
Feature image by William Fortunato via Pexels