Black women continue to lead the way in technology and entrepreneurship into the new year. Their companies are the most profitable, hire the most employees, and have the best outlook for longetivity and innovation. Here are 6 of our favorite Black women CEOs that are getting a lot of media attention:
#1 - Crystal Etienne, CEO of Panty Prop
Crystal Etienne is the CEO and Founder of Panty Prop Inc. Launched in 2016, PantyProp is a femtech company based in New York that developed a patent-pending feminine hygiene solution for women who are unable to use or prefer not to use alternatives such as tampons or menstrual cups. The capsule product line consist of period swimwear designed specifically for water activity, active wear, sleepwear, and period underwear for teens and women.
Crystal has successfully grown the company to a multi-million dollar company over 400%, and was the first black woman to lead and grow a feminine hygiene company over the million dollar mark within one year... by the way, she has bootstrapped the entire time! In 2019, PantyProp grew quickly and added 19 employees within the first two weeks and is on target to reach $20.5 Million dollars by 4th quarter. Learn more at www.PantryProp.com
#2 - Dawn Dickson, CEO of PopCom
Dawn W. Dickson is CEO of PopCom, an automated retail company that uses facial recognition, A.I, and blockchain technology to help retailers collect valuable customer insights. The first CRM, data, and analytics software provider for unattended retail, PopCom has developed technology to make kiosks and vending machines intelligent through data and analytics at the point of purchase. The company has two patents pending for a highly unique and innovative automated retail hardware design called PopShop Kiosks with solid software IP, has raised $960k to date from angel investors and VC funds, has secured paid pilots with Procter & Gamble and others, and has $3.72M in projected software annual recurring revenue in the pipeline.
Dawn was featured on the cover of Black Enterprise magazine in June 2018 and recently named as INC Magazine’s top 100 Female Tech Founders. PopCom is raising $943,000 in the form of a secure token offering (STO) on Start Engine. Learn more at www.StartEngine.com/PopCom
#3 - Pandwe Gibson, CEO of EcoTech Vision (ETV)
A graduate of MIT, Harvard and CGU Peter Drucker School of Management with a MBA, MA and PhD, Gibson founded EcoTech Vision (ETV) to support spacetech, bluetech, big data, greentech, farmtech, Blockchain, saas, and consumer product startups.
In 2018 the ETV team successfully completed the Mergelane fundinator in Boulder, CO and launched a $5 million seed round. Their signature “Farmers in the Gardens” program launched a second facility giving ETV a total of 52,000 square foot of space in Miami, Florida housing 26 startups. The company plans to open 5 new facilities in Southeast and Midwestern America by 2020. Learn more at www.Ecotechvisions.com
#4 - Jasmine Crowe, CEO of Goodr
Jasmine Crowe is a serial founder with over 10 years of experience in start ups and one exit under her belt. She launched Goodr in 2017 to leverages technology to reduce food waste and combat hunger. Goodr is a sustainable food surplus management company that provides an end-to-end solution for businesses seeking to reduce waste and earn money from their edible food surplus by donating it to local nonprofit organizations. Goodr’s blockchain-enabled platform provides an IRS audit-friendly donation record, real-time food waste analytics, and community impact reports. The business model aims to provide a triple-win situation: improve business’ bottom line through tax deductions, reduce greenhouse emissions from landfills, and use edible surplus food to reduce hunger.
In 2018, the company closed Seed Round of $1.25M, was named the ReFed 2018 Food Waste Innovation Champion, was featured on OWN Super Soul Dreamer Honoree, and secured a partnership with Hormel Foods Brands. This year Goodr secured an official partner of NFL Environment (handling all surplus food recovery from official NFL Zones), the company will be launching next in DC and Chicago, rolling out the Goodr Festival and Conference Verticals, and expanding Services to Compost, Animal Feed and Anerobic Digestion. To learn more, visit www.goodr.co
#5 - Sevetri Wilson, CEO of Resilia
Sevetri Wilson is the Founder and CEO of Resilia (formerly known as ExemptMeNow), a New Orleans based tech company that helps nonprofit organizations increase capacity and enable enterprises that deploy billions of dollars to scale impact.
Sevetri is a seasoned founder, who launched her first company Solid Ground Innovations in 2009 and bootstrapped the company to seven figures with no outside capital infusion. In November 2016, she launched Resilia the public as a product spin off of Solid Ground Innovations. The company simplifies the creation process of new nonprofits and providing existing organizations with on-demand tools that optimize operations and increase effectiveness. For enterprises, they offer intuitive, data driven software to corporations, private foundations and government entities that leverages technology to accelerate progress and increase connectivity.
In 2018, the company closed a seed round, doubled the size of their team from 7 to 15, surpassed seven figures in ARR, and opened up a sales office in Newark, NJ. Learn more at www.exemptmenow.com
#6 - Dr. Rachel Angel, CEO of Peerro
Dr. Rachel Angel is the President and CEO of Anexsis. Dr. Angel developed Peerro, a career pathway platform for young people seeking hourly positions and employers seeking quality hires to take the guesswork out of job search and application process. Peerro delivers the only educator-endorsed leads to ensure its pool of talent is qualified, vetted and ultimately matches the right people with the right jobs. Peerro also provides job-seekers pathways for better employment by displaying the education, training, and certification information necessary to get them to a higher paying position.
Since 2018 the company has raised over $300,000, secured partnerships with numerous educational Institutions including Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Cuyahoga Community College, and begin placing candidates for Swagelok and Alliance staffing. Peerro expanded operations in 2019 to include more schools and employers. Learn more at www.peerro.com