Insider Brief
- Google announces 20 recipients of the 2024 Google for Startups Founders Funds for Black and Latino entrepreneurs, exclusively focusing on AI startups, with each founder receiving $150,000 in non-dilutive cash and $100,000 in Google Cloud credits.
- Recipients, including Virginia-based Trustible, are using AI to address critical issues such as wildfire prevention, reducing fast fashion waste, and improving community college transfer success.
- The program aims to advance inclusion in AI and support diverse founders with capital, mental health resources, and mentorship, continuing Google’s commitment to economic opportunity and racial equity.
PRESS RELEASE — ARLINGTON, VA / June 25 , 2024— Today, Google announced the 20 recipients of its 2024 Google for Startups Founders Funds for Black and Latino entrepreneurs. This year marks the first cohort exclusively comprised of AI-focused startups, advancing Google’s commitments to inclusion in AI and to helping diverse founders access capital. Each founder will receive $150,000 in non-dilutive cash awards and $100,000 in Google Cloud credits to help grow their businesses. In addition to capital, the founders will also gain access to mental health resources and mentorship from Google experts in AI and sales. One Virginia-based founder, Trustible, is among the recipients.
The 2024 Black and Latino Founders Fund recipients are using AI to help solve important business and societal challenges — from using AI to prevent wildfires to diverting fast fashion from landfills to helping millions of community college learners more successfully transfer and acquire four-year degrees.
“AI can enable startups to build transformative products and solve complex challenges, but founders need access to capital to realize this potential,” said Maya Kulycky, Vice President of Strategy and Operations at Google Research. “Through the Google for Startups Founders Funds, we are proud to invest in promising Black and Latino founders who are leveraging AI technology to help address some of today’s most pressing issues. We are inspired by the groundbreaking work of these founders and their potential to shape the future of AI.”
Trustible is a leading technology provider of responsible AI governance that enables organizations to surface hidden AI risks, check compliance requirements, and accelerate responsible AI development.
“We’re excited to partner with the Google for Startups Latino Founders Fund to continue driving our mission of enabling trustworthy and responsible AI,” says Gerald Kierce-Iturrioz, co-founder and CEO of Trustible. “The support will be used to further develop our Responsible AI Governance Platform to help organizations build trust, manage risk, and comply with regulations related to AI.”
Google believes that racial equity is inextricably linked to economic opportunity. The company created the Founders Funds to help level the playing field for Black and Latino entrepreneurs who are consistently locked out of access to early capital. Today’s announcement builds on the program’s success to date — since 2020, Google has deployed more than $50M to Black and Latino founders around the world. These founders have raised over $590 million in follow-on funding.
