With an influx of great talents within the entrepreneurial space and so little opportunities for African Americans creatives, it takes a whole lot more than innovation to help minority inventors get their well deserved recognition.
Foremost entrepreneur, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Streamlytics, Angela Benton stands tall on the success ladder but she isn’t just passionate about her individual success, with deep rooted passion, the 39 year old business mogul uses her platform to advocate for equality and diversity in the technology industry.
She has amazingly helped minority-led tech companies raise over $47 million in venture capital funding. In 2011 she founded NewME, the first accelerator globally for minorities. Under her leadership, NewME has helped hundreds of startup entrepreneurs raise over $47 million in venture capital funding.
However in 2018, after battling cancer Benton’s outlook changed, needing a new challenge, the seasoned entrepreneur decided to move on from NewMe to other new projects. She sold NewMe to LightHouse, the parent company Hillman Accelerator, and moved on to Streamlytics.
Prior to that, in 2007 she launched BlackWeb 2.0, a multimedia platform which also help African-Americans interested in technology get footing.
Benton received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communications with a specialization in Digital Design American from InterContinental University in 2004 before launching her professional career with InterActiveCorp (IAC) going on to work in various roles from design, to development and strategy .
Amongst Benton’s numerous accomplishments, she has been featured in high profile publications including: CNN’s award-winning documentary, Black in America, being listed amongst Goldman Sachs’ 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, Fast Company’s Most Influential Women In Technology, Business Insiders’ 25 Most Influential African-Americans in Technology amongst others.
Image Credit:
