black-founder

(4)
Company
The Yellow Bus Is Breaking. This Founder Turned Parents Into the Fleet.
Saas · Education · Logistics

The Yellow Bus Is Breaking. This Founder Turned Parents Into the Fleet.

Kimberly Moore spent 14 years climbing at Verizon, then bet at 53 that the safest ride to school isn't a yellow bus or an app-hailed stranger - it's the family three doors down. Go Together now runs school carpools in 27 states.

k12-transportation · carpoolRead →
Legend
Vanessa Rissetto
Founder · Executive · Operator

Vanessa Rissetto

Vanessa Rissetto is a registered dietitian nutritionist and the co-founder and CEO of Culina Health, a virtual, insurance-covered nutrition care company she started with fellow dietitian Tamar Samuels in 2020. A Fordham history major turned NYU marketing grad turned Mount Sinai senior dietitian, she ran the dietetic internship program at NYU before building Culina Health into a network of about 90 dietitians that has served more than 10,000 patients. In December 2024 she raised a $7.9 million Series A led by Healthworx, the venture arm of CareFirst. She is a frequent nutrition voice on the Today Show and in Vogue, The New York Times and Bon Appetit, and has been recognized by Goldman Sachs, Inc., Essence and NPR.

vanessa-rissetto · culina-healthRead →
Legend
Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins
Founder · Executive · Activist

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins is the co-founder and CEO of Promise, an Oakland-based govtech company valued at $520 million that helps municipalities and utilities offer zero-interest payment plans to struggling residents. A former union organizer turned labor federation executive turned music manager for Prince, she now runs a platform that has reached 5 million+ households across 20+ states, proving that treating people with dignity is not just ethical — it is a business model. Named #247 on the Forbes Self-Made 250, she built Promise from a YC Winter 2018 bet to a $23 million-funded company generating $33M+ in annual revenue.

govtech · fintechRead →
Legend
Kanyi Maqubela
Investor · Founder · Operator

Kanyi Maqubela

Kanyi Maqubela is a South African-born venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and thinker who grew up as a refugee in the United States - from homeless shelter in New York City to Phillips Academy and Stanford - and built a career as Managing Partner of Kindred Ventures, a $156M+ AUM seed-stage firm he co-founded with Steve Jang in San Francisco. With a portfolio market cap exceeding $200B (including early bets on Uber, Coinbase, Reddit, and Upstart), Kanyi also co-founded Heartbeat Health, the largest virtual heart health platform in the US. He bridges philosophy, social impact, and frontier technology with a writer's eye and a founder's instinct.

venture-capital · seed-investingRead →