Three Minnesota startup founders have been recognized by Google for Startups, receiving a total of $200,000 from the program's Black Founders Fund, Google announced Tuesday.
The three winners are Civic Eagle co-founder and CEO Damola Ogundipe; Black Women's Wealth Alliance founder and President Kenya McKnight-Ahad; and Watch the Yard founder Jonathan Rabb. Civic Eagle received $100,000 from the fund, while Black Women's Wealth Alliance and Watch the Yard each received $50,000.
Related: Kenya McKnight-Ahad was named a 2019 Women in Business honoree by the Business Journal.
The winners are among 76 recipients across the county that received a total of $5 million. The size of the awards was based on application strength, startup size and demonstrated need. All of the startups had to have raised less than $3 million since their founding.
The Black Founders Fund is part of the racial-equity commitments Google made during the national uprising following the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department. The money is meant to come for startups that are financially vulnerable because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Google for Startups U.S. Head Jewel Burks Solomon said.
"It's important for Google to take big steps like this to support Black entrepreneurs," McKnight-Ahad said in a statement.
Cash from the fund is non-equity, non-dilutive funding, so there are few strings attached for founders, who can use the money as they please.
"We're excited to have Google for Startups financial support and partnership as we continue to grow our team, build a world class company culture, and scale our industry leading data and collaboration software for policy professionals," Ogundipe said in a statement.
