Two North Texas startups join Google's inaugural Black founders accelerator

As companies look to create diversity in their workplaces in the wake of ongoing protests and conversations about racial justice and equity, Google is looking to give a boost to Black startup founders with a new accelerator program. And the inaugural cohort has two North Texas startups.

As part of a broader effort at Google to bring awareness to Black-owned businesses, the company announced the launch of its Google for Startups Accelerator for Black Founders. The inaugural class will include Dallas-based diversity, equity and inclusion platform Kanarys and McKinney’s salon and barbershop space rental app ShearShare (both of which are NTX Inno 2020 Inno on Fire honorees), along with 10 other startups from across the country.

“It’s been inspiring to witness so many people look for ways to invest in the Black community,” Jewel Burks, head of Google for Startups U.S., wrote in a blog post. “It’s my hope that... Google’s tools and training can serve as additional resources for Black-owned businesses and the people who support them.”

Founded in April 2018, Dallas-based Kanarys offers a platform for both employers and employees to help create a diverse and inclusive culture and workplace. It uses anonymized and aggregated data to determine the level of employee satisfaction with the workplace and the company’s initiatives. For employers, they are able to track trends and statistics, based on collected data and surveys. On the other end, employees are given a place to express issues or concerns without fear of retaliation. Late last year, Kanarys closed on a $1.5 million Pre-Seed round, making co-founders Mandy Price and Star Carter two of only about 50 Black women to raise more than $1 million in VC funding.

The other North Texas startup joining the cohort is ShearShare, launched by husband and wife team Tye and Courtney Caldwell In 2015 to help connect open chairs in salons and barber shops to professional stylists. The company’s B2B platform allows professionals to find places in their geography with prices per day. Since its founding, the company has raised $3.6 million from backers including Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Structure Capital, Precursor Ventures and Backstage Capital, putting it in a group of less than 150 Black-owned startups to raise more than $1 million. The company was recently featured by Fortune.

With a focus on companies between Seed and Series A stages, startups in the accelerator program are using AI and ML within their own businesses to help solve issues ranging from health care and debt relief to customer relations and lowering college dropout rates.

The three-month program kicks off next month. Members of the cohort will receive training and support on things like technical challenges, business growth and gaining outside investments from Google and other industry leaders.

The creation of the Google for Startups Accelerator for Black Founders is part of other efforts taking place within the Alphabet-owned company. Google also announced plans to let verified businesses to add a Black-owned attribute to their profiles and to make them easier to search on its Maps app. In addition, the company is expanding its Google Digital Coaches program, which was launched in 2017 to provide mentoring and workshops to founders of color, to several new cities, including Birmingham, Memphis and Cleveland.

“We know all too well that starting a small biz can be a pathway to economic prosperity for #smallbiz owners & the community,” ShearShare wrote on Twitter.

Check out the 12 members of the inaugural Google for Startups Accelerator for Black Founders cohort below (descriptions provided by Google).