He had a successful exit when his start-up Tru Optik was sold to data giant Transunion last year. But it was tough sledding, building an advanced media data business five years ago. Now a super-hot sector, Andre was ahead of his time.
While he made early progress with product development and industry partnerships, funded from a few early stage angel investors, access to venture capital was nearly impossible. While he says the adtech industry was open to him, he was shut out by VC’s — unable to even to get preliminary pitch meetings. He blames racial bias.
With VC’s investing less than 1 % in Black-founded start-ups, Andre is committed to changing the equation both by his example, advocacy and now personal investing in promising companies.
This is one of the topics covered in a wide ranging podcast session moderated by guest host Ashley Swartz, CEO of Furious Corp. They cover a number topics including the transformation of TV, the background and promise of the acquisition by Transunion.
Editor’s Note: This episode was published in January of the year. It is as compelling and important as ever, so we are republishing it this week.
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