Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), the world’s largest startup competition focused on mission-driven tech innovation, announces today a new regional competition track to highlight exceptional entrepreneurs from the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the U.S. The winners of this new regional competition will automatically advance to be global finalists of the XTC 2022 startup competition and have an opportunity to go on and compete in the XTC Global Finals next year.
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In partnership with Smartpreneur, a California-based entrepreneur development agency dedicated to creating the optimal conditions in which underrepresented entrepreneurs can succeed, this program will create better visibility for underrepresented founders and help them build a robust business network with resources and support beyond the competition period.
“Diversity is key to nurturing a rich startup ecosystem, which really speaks to a key strength of XTC as we’ve been building a network of scalable pods of innovation around the world,” said Bill Tai, Co-Founder of Extreme Tech Challenge, Partner Emeritus at Charles River Ventures. “We take great pride in our efforts to empower women and minority entrepreneurs and help them get to where they need to go, a little bit faster,” said Tai.
There are powerful economic opportunities to be gained when the process of entrepreneurship has been democratized. “Together with the Extreme Tech Challenge, we have an amazing opportunity to take a massive leap forward in our society. We must seek to build sustainable ecosystems, intentionally designed to connect silos and break down barriers,’’ said Jaune Odombrown, Founder & CEO of Smartpreneur.
XTC is inviting HBCU administrators, corporations, investors, policymakers and philanthropists interested in getting involved to support underrepresented entrepreneurs tackling global challenges to contact Victoria Slivkoff, Executive Managing Director of XTC at victoria@extremetechchallenge.org.
About Extreme Tech Challenge
Extreme Tech Challenge is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation whose mission is to empower startups creating new tech innovations to address global challenges. It is the world’s largest ecosystem and competition for purpose-driven technology inspired by the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Extreme Tech Challenge™ competition is supported by leading corporations, venture capital investors, foundations, policymakers, universities and tech conferences to give exceptional startups the potential for global visibility, the opportunity to raise capital, the ability to network with global leaders, and access to world-class mentorship to help them pioneer technological breakthroughs that address our most extreme global challenges. A complete list of XTC partners and how to join can be found at www.extremetechchallenge.org.
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