Google Inc. has named Jim Gibbs, the co-founder and CEO of Pittsburgh-based mobile parking platform Meter Feeder, to the latest cohort of the tech giant's Black Founders Fund.
Gibbs joins 115 others from around the nation featured as part of the $5 million fund that awards nondilutive cash investments of up to $100,000 for Black-led startups as well as hands-on support from Google and credits for its cloud and advertising platforms. He's the only one selected as part of this year's cohort who calls Pittsburgh home, and one of just four total Pennsylvania residents who were featured.
For Gibbs, being named to the Black Founders Fund following the recent news that his company's platform is now deployed and operational at all metered locations in Pittsburgh seemed to mark a bit of a turning point for what he said has been the worst year of his life. In May, Gibbs said his father passed away due to Covid-19 which was followed by the passing of his grandmother two months later, also due to the coronavirus.
"It was really part of this turnaround before the year-end," Gibbs said. "Being able to deploy in Pittsburgh was pretty significant, and then to turn back around and have a company as big as Google to signal to the rest of the startup world that we're worth investing in."
Gibbs said he plans to use the $100,000 award to continue the company's "parabolic growth" that has started to occur. That includes the onboarding of a few more employees, now at eight, and plans to continue to hire more going forward.
As for the significance of the award, Gibbs said it's indicative of addressing two important concerns often seen by many Black founders.
For the first, Gibbs noted that finding mentorship as a Black founder can be easy, but there aren't many people who are "actually putting money where their mouths are." The second concern then comes after these people or groups award funds but then aren't intentional about offering any other sort of help or guidance beyond an investment.
Google's Black Founders Fund, Gibbs said, addresses both.
"It's refreshing to see a company like Google, someone with a stature like Google, coming out and actually doing this," Gibbs said. "And while we are very happy about the money, we are also happy that we have the actual backing of Google in order to help us continue to grow the company."
