IN THE NEWS
FINTECH GLOBAL: Redactable raises $5.5 Million in Seed Funding for AI Redaction Platform
🎉 Wocstar portfolio company, Redactable®, on securing $5.5 million in seed funding! With support from Wocstar Fund and other notable investors, Redactable is revolutionizing document security through its AI-driven platform.
👏 Redactable's innovative solution, led by CEO Amanda Levay, uses Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning to swiftly and permanently redact sensitive information in documents.
📣 "We're not just investing in innovative tech solutions; we're backing bold and exciting entrepreneurs like Redactable's CEO Amanda Levay," said Gayle Jennings O'Byrne, Co-Founder and General Partner at Wocstar Fund. "She and her team are reimagining how companies scale, succeed, and bring new products to market. They represent the future we all need and deserve."
NY1: Re-Nuble is Creating a More Sustainable Future
Gayle Jennings O'Byrne Jennings-O’Byrne and Re-nuble founder, Tinia Pina talked with NY1 about how Re-Nuble and Wocstar are creating a sustainable future for all of us.
NEW YORK TIMES: Are Community’s Text Messages the New Social Media?
Community, which was first marketed as a way for celebrities to text their fans, now has big brands on board.
That’s why so many of us are moving our most important communications to text messages. And in the process, the “text inbox” has become the new holy space for brands, far more intimate than your social media feed.
At least, that’s the bet that Ashton Kutcher, the actor turned venture capitalist, and Guy Oseary, Bono’s and Madonna’s manager turned investor, made when they co-founded a text message company called Community in 2019. In the beginning, it was marketed to celebrities to communicate with their fans about tour dates and new projects.
But over the last year, the business has quietly grown to power text messages from some of the largest brands, like McDonald’s, HBO, the New York Yankees and Condé Nast. When this month’s Hollywood blockbuster, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” launched an advertising campaign, it came with a phone number for viewers to text, powered by Community.
THE BUSINESS JOURNAL: NYCEDC Aims to Connect Women in Tech and the Green Economy
New York City Economic Development Corporation is rolling out the next phase of its Women.NYC initiative with “The Network.”
As its name suggests, the platform is designed to connect women in the city’s five boroughs to help them advance and pinpoint opportunities in emerging fields like technology, the green economy, life sciences and offshore wind. Participants can choose from three types of program, such as virtual one-on-one office hours, small group discussions, or shadowing more seasoned executives. They will also have the chance to get involved through quarterly events.
PRESS RELEASE: Filmhedge Leads 1st Atlanta Delegation to Cannes Film Festival, Marche Du Film
Filmhedge Leads 1st Atlanta Delegation to Cannes Film Festival, Marche Du Film
International trip to Cannes 2023 touts Atlanta's entertainment fintech ecosystem and promotes the city as a world-class destination for film and television production.
Filmhedge CEO, Jon Gosier, will lead the first delegation of City officials and business leaders to the Cannes Film Festival, May 16 through May 27.
Happy Black History Month!
Check out the six ways to intentionally celebrate Black History Month from the Wocstar team!
The Wocstar Wish List
Check out the Wocstar Wish List for our favorite gifts and support BIPOC businesses this holiday season!
CNN: Barriers to Black Entrepreneurship Widen the Wealth Gap
The numbers speak for themselves and reducing the wealth gap is one of the only ways to drive equality.
VENTURE CAPITAL JOURNAL: Wocstar CEO Named Top 10 VC Women of Influence
VC’s Women of Influence.
FILM DAILY: Venture Capitalist Gayle Jennings O’Byrne Honored at Cannes
CANNES, FRANCE (May 2022) – Media finance innovator Gayle Jennings O’Byrne will be honored at the Women in Entertainment Finance Forum (WEF) celebration this year at the Cannes Film Festival.
CRAIN’S NY BUSINESS: Celebrating the city’s black business leaders
Black History Month is here, and Crain's is highlighting some of New York's most prominent Black leaders.
REUTERS: U.S. Venture Capital Funds Founded by Minority Women Band Together for Change
Four venture capital funds founded by women of color in the United States are banding together under an umbrella called The Ally Capital Collab to get an edge on fundraising and investments.
FORBES: Changing The Capital Flow For BIPOC Female VC Fund Founders
In the dog-eat-dog world of venture capital, two Black and two Latinx female founders of venture funds are doing things differently. They are collaborating, not competing.
VENTURE CAPITAL JOURNAL: Wocstar Wants to Turn Women Founders into Rockstars
How can we make it easier for women founders to get the capital and support they need to scale their businesses?
PRESS RELEASE: Wocstar Fund Secures Leading Group of Female Investors
Gayle Jennings O’Byrne and Pialy Aditya, co-founders of the Wocstar Fund, are pleased to announce that a diverse group of accomplished female leaders are investing in the fund.