Google continues investment in underrepresented founders across the U.S. to foster diversity within startup community
DENVER -- [July 13, 2023] – Google for Startups today announced the recipients of its fourth Google for Startups Black Founders Fund and second Latino Founders Fund, which respectively provide promising Black and Latino-led startups non-equity cash awards to help fuel their businesses. interviewIA, a Colorado-based start-up, is the only recipient in the state and will receive $150,000. This will fund the continued development of IIA Healthcare.
“In 2020, we launched our first Google for Startups Black Founders Fund to help Black tech entrepreneurs overcome the disproportionate hurdles they face when raising capital,” said Lisa Gevelber, VP of Google for Startups. “Over the past three years, we’ve significantly expanded the scope of our work, expanding our Black Founders Fund to Europe, Africa and Brazil, and to Latino founders in the US. We've now provided $45M in cash awards and to 547 promising entrepreneurs through our Black and Latino Founders Funds. We are excited to welcome a new group of diverse founders who are using technology to solve some of society's biggest problems.”
interviewIA has developed and launched a SaaS interview collaboration platform for hiring companies to make it possible for every recruiter, hiring manager and interviewer to conduct equitable and data-driven interviews, consistently and repeatedly.
“We are extremely grateful to receive funding from Google and it will help expand our mission to use combined pathways of experience to help organizations create equal opportunities for all individuals seeking purpose, a sense of belonging, and meaningful work in their lives and society,” said Joe Thurman, founder of interviewIA. “This funding will enable us to deepen our involvement in the healthcare market, and will support the continued development of our technology and engineering teams.”
The Google for Startups Black and Latino Founders Funds will provide $150,000 cash awards as well as hands-on support to help Black entrepreneurs build and grow their businesses in the US. In addition to the non-dilutive capital and up to $100,000 in Google Cloud credits, recipients also receive mentorship from Googlers, along with other resources such as sales training, investor prep, mental health coaching, and community offerings at no cost. To learn more about IIA Healthcare, visit https://www.iiahealthcare.com/.
ABOUT GOOGLE FOR STARTUPS
Google for Startups works to level the playing field for startup founders and communities to succeed by bringing the best of Google’s products, connections, and best practices to startups. Paired with a deep commitment to create diverse startup communities, many of our offerings are designed specifically to provide underrepresented founders with access to resources and opportunities. We support startups everywhere to build something better. Because when startups succeed, we all succeed. To learn more, visit Google for Startups.
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