15 Black-owned startups that are building a better future
From addressing food and clothing waste to improving education technology, Black entrepreneurs in the university community are transforming ideas into action to bring about positive change.
Most startups simply aim to make our life easier, but there are some that hope to shape the future by offering solutions to pressing needs.
Below is a list of innovative startups you can help support, founded by Black members of the community who turned to one of the university’s 10 zones or incubators to help bring their idea to life.
Zones such as the DMZ, Social Ventures Zone and Fashion Zone are spaces where people in different industries can find the support they need to build initiatives from the ground up by growing their network, gaining experience, developing skills and accessing sources of funding.
Andie
Andie (external link) is a digital platform that helps small businesses deliver express service and experiences to their customers. Their mission is to ensure that long wait times, service delays and resulting customer frustrations are things of the past.
B12Give
Be One to Give (external link) is a food redistribution app with a goal to close the gap between surplus food and food insecurity by redistributing 100 percent of avoidable food waste across Canada by 2030. It partners with retailers including grocery stores, convention centres, hotels, event venues, caterers and others to eliminate avoidable food waste.
While facing food insecurity, Tony Colley was working part-time for a local caterer when he saw an opportunity to redistribute surplus prepared food. He launched B12Give in 2019 and received national recognition for redistributing more than 12,000 lbs of food, feeding 9,100 people.
eimhe
EIMHE (external link) is an experience-based wellness management platform built for corporations but designed for people. Their software is uniquely positioned to address three main problems pertaining to people and their respective organizations – it fights stigmas and taboos associated with mental illness, helps streamline access to resources, and addresses the lack of personalization in the corporate ecosystem.
Fingerprints Inc.
Fingerprints Inc. (external link) is an education company dedicated to creating equal learning opportunities for students of different learning styles while fostering meaningful mentorship. The Fingerprints program provides a safe space for students to learn in their own unique style by pairing student mentees with a student mentor, striving to help unconventional learners find ways in which they can excel and reach their full potential.
With a mission to help unconventional learners find ways they can excel academically and otherwise, Angelique Paul built Fingerprints Inc. to be an intimate learning environment catered for the needs of each student.
FittedFast
FittedFast (external link) brands itself as the Uber Eats for clothes or a local Amazon. In an era where e-commerce thrives, the company aims to address the growing number of local store closures. It delivers locally found brick-and-mortar retail items to customers, bringing the local mall to their fingertips.
Luxe Collection Bridal
Luxe Collection Bridal (external link) designs wedding gowns that are inclusive of size and skin tone, in addition to being made with sustainable and upcycled fabrics, with zero waste practices. Their Sposa Pronta Bridal Boxes aim to be the future of sustainable bridal, created to revolutionize the way brides access their entire bridal outfit and to extend the value of wedding dresses beyond the wedding day.
Nayaa
Nayaa (external link) is a company that uses creative speech and images on clothing to speak to the Somali experience in western society. The goal of this project is to create a community that allows people of immigrant parents to find a home in a new place.
NAIJ Hair
NAIJ Hair (external link) is a company for Black women that provides them with premium quality, ethically sourced extensions and access to a curated directory of stylists near them. The brand prides itself on serving the Black community in all aspects, including promoting Black stylists, makeup artists and independent Black beauty entrepreneurs.
Omi Woods
Omi Woods (external link) jewelry are contemporary heirlooms that celebrate the Black community’s connections to the African diaspora. Their jewelry is individually and ethically handmade with fair trade African gold, globally sourced, recycled and conflict-free fine metals.
Ashley Alexis McFarlane pays tribute to her Jamaican-Ashanti-Indigneous-Maroon heritage with her jewelry brand Omi Woods. Omi means 'water' in the Yoruba language; the word Jamaica derives from the indigenous Taino word 'Xaymaca' meaning 'land of wood and water.'
POKET
POKET (external link) works with researchers, nonprofit and public sector organizations to customize a suite of mobile tools for crowdsourcing data. Their focus is on projects that can benefit from self-reported data, citizen/beneficiary-generated data, participatory mapping or community-driven insights.
Redeem Clothing Recycling
Addressing the problem of textile waste, Redeem Clothing Recycling (external link) helps reduce the environmental harm of the fashion industry by making clothing recycling convenient and rewarding for everyone.
RIOTSONS
RIOTSONS (external link) athletic apparel is rooted in social and ecological integrity. Launching soon, their shirts are designed to be incredibly comfortable and made with a combination of recycled plastics, renewable beechwood and locally sourced organic cotton.
SmartTerm
SmartTerm (external link) delivers unified digital experiences to make high-quality education accessible to everyone regardless of their ability, income, age, race, gender, language, or location. SmartTerm empowers global education systems through scalable technology solutions.
Toni Marlow
Toni Marlow (external link) lets women feel comfortable in their skin, every day of the month. They make underwear that fits feminine bodies while expressing gender non-conforming styles.
Xenia Education (Guide)
Guide (external link) is an all-in-one student engagement platform for schools to onboard international students, build community and proactively support students. The platform has tools and resources to help international students seamlessly transition into a new environment.
