Mozaic founder Marcus Cobb wanted to forge his own path and didn't want any handouts in starting his own business. Still, as a young entrepreneur he's learned to make the most of every opportunity that comes his way.
His company was recently named as one of 12 startups selected for the "Google for Startups Accelerator: Black Founders" class of 2022, an opportunity that he says will open new doors for Mozaic.
Chicago's Innovare, an app that aggregates and displays data from a variety of sources to help education locations to make data-driven decisions, was also named to the Google cohort.
“I don’t think I would have applied for Google had it not been for the influence [of others],” he said. “And I’m glad I did apply. It’s flinging me into the West Coast ecosystem with one of the biggest names on the planet.”
Originally developed to serve music professionals, Chicago-based Mozaic hopes to serve all creators and creatives and is designed to simplify international and split payments. Formerly called Jammber, Mozaic provides "smart contracts" that automate split income among creative teams.
"Let's say you're a writer and you want to get a graphic artist for something and you want to split some of the money you make off your work. How do you do that?" Cobb asked. "Right now you're doing it by hand, and the idea with Mozaic is to do that with anyone in the world automatically."
Cobb said that coming out of the pandemic, Mozaic has seen explosive growth.
Google's accelerator program will guide Mozaic and other growth-stage startups founded by Black entrepreneurs through Google's tools and services, offering support and advice along the way. Cobb expects it to be a valuable experience.
"When James Webb's telescope was launching, NASA did something different," Cobb said. "[When] they were receiving research papers they removed all the metadata about names, gender, just the paper and research involved. And astonishingly, they found out that most of the papers they accepted were from female scientists. And I think that that's what's happening here. I think these programs are helping these companies remove their biases."
The 10-week virtual program will consist of mentorship, technical support, and curriculum covering product design, machine learning, customer acquisition and leadership development for founders, according to a release from Google.
Fresh off its selection for the 2022 Google for "Startups Accelerator: Black Founders" cohort, Mozaic projects to reach $5.5 million in series A funding, despite a challenging investment climate.
Joe Galante, former chairman and CEO of Sony Music Nashville and recent Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, and music manager Chris Parr of Maverick Management Nashville were among the investors.
