Apple Launched an ‘Entrepreneur Camp’ for Black Founders and Developers

Apple recently announced the launch of an Entrepreneur Camp program designed for Black Founders and Developers as a part of the tech company’s initiative to empower the Black community. Thirteen companies will be joining the latest round of the program, which kicks off this week.

The Entrepreneur Camp was created in the hopes of providing Black developers and founders with the time, space, and resources to hone their pre-existing skills as app creators and master cutting-edge techniques and methods through a variety of hands-on technology labs, as well as “one-on-one code-level guidance from Apple experts and engineers, and mentorship, inspiration, and insights from top Apple leaders.”

This is the second iteration of Apple’s Entrepreneur Camp. The first was back in 2019, and described by the company as “an immersive tech lab for app-driven companies founded and led by developers from underrepresented backgrounds, with a class of women founders and developers.” Reportedly, the 2019 session was an enormous success and yielded exciting results, including many participants receiving funding, awards, and more.

Among the thirteen companies participating in this session are Black, an app that facilitates “culturally relevant and multifaceted news for Black people, with stories that speak to the community’s shared experience,” Film3D, an app aimed at helping users shoot 3D photographs without any special equipment, and Nailstry, an app that connects indie artists with nail enthusiasts and uses AR to help measure and design custom-fit press on nails (a godsend to anyone who hasn’t been able to make it to the salon since the pandemic hit!).

 

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Lisa Jackson, Apple’s VP of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives, was adamant that each of the selected, participating creators and business owners “embody the entrepreneurial spirit that runs so deep in the Black community. Their work already demonstrates the power of coding to build a better world, and we’re honored to support them as they blaze a trail we know so many more will follow.” We will certainly be keeping an eye on this year’s participants – no doubt they have big things in their futures!

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