Two Pittsburgh-based organizations — an investing startup and a venture capital firm — have each landed investments from prestigious programs offered by Google LLC and its parent company Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL), respectively.
Gainvest Inc., a fintech startup and social investment platform for other businesses, received $100,000 from the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund, which provides nonequity cash awards to Black-led organizations to help them grow their business. Since its founding in 2019, Gainvest's platform touts having seen over $110 million invested into real estate and startup businesses using its services.
According to a statement in a Gainvest press release, the funding will allow the company to continue its operations into the future.
"I planned to sell Gainvest last year and part of me regretted not doing so," Nashid Ali, founder of Gainvest, said in the Gainvest release. "Now, with this opportunity from Google, we have several new partnerships that will be announced before the end of the year 2022. These partnerships, along with Google's support, will help us remove some growing pains and finally scale to the powerful, mighty Gainvest."
Ali also said some of the funds from Google will be donated to support relief efforts in Jackson, Mississippi, which is currently experiencing a water crisis following widespread flooding and subsequent damage to its water treatment facilities over the past few weeks, rendering the city of 140,000 people without drinkable water.
Black Tech Nation Ventures (BTNV) is another Pittsburgh-based organization receiving funding as part of an announcement from Google's parent company, one of six Black-led VC firms across the nation to receive such funding. BTNV is in the midst of raising a $50 million fund for Black and underserved founders of startups around the world, the first investments of which began in November 2021 when BTNV surpassed the halfway point of its raise with $25 million in funds established.
A Google press release didn't disclose how much was contributed to BTNV but it noted that its parent company, Alphabet, established a fund to set aside $100 million in capital to be spread across Black-led VC firms, Black-owned startups and nonprofit organizations that support Black entrepreneurship and business. Alphabet enlisted CapitalG, its independent growth fund of nearly a decade, to allocate these funding commitments. BTNV is one of six VC firms selected that now share the $60 million that's been allocated from the CapitalG growth fund, which has also used those dollars for two Black-owned startups and "various" nonprofit organizations.
"Alphabet is not just an investor; it is a partner," Kelauni Jasmyn, general partner of BTNV, said in the Google press release. "From deal flow to co-investment access to resources made available directly to our portfolio companies, Alphabet accelerates and de-risks our portfolio’s growth, enabling our diverse leadership teams to quickly build company value and ultimately strong exit potential."
Google for Startups Black Founders Fund's total investments in Pennsylvania for Black-led organizations now stands at $300,000. Last year, the company invested $100,000 into Pittsburgh-based Meter Feeder, a parking payment platform led by CEO and Co-Founder Jim Gibbs.
"The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund has grown into a flourishing community of 176 founders in the U.S. because of the program’s focus on supporting founders along their journeys beyond a one-time financial award,” Jewel Burks Solomon, head of Google for Startups U.S., said in a release. "The program was intentionally designed to help founders in multiple ways, with nondilutive funding, tailored mentorship, mental health coaching and more. We are thrilled to strengthen this community by welcoming the third cohort of founders and are excited to see how they continue to grow their businesses."
A previous version of this story may have implied that Alphabet established its CapitalG growth fund explicitly for investments into Black-led startups and organizations. CapitalG is overseeing a $100 million allotment given to it by Alphabet to invest in Black-led startups and organizations.
