SoftBank promises $100M for founders of color. In response to George Floyd’s death and the nationwide protest movement it inspired, the Japanese venture capital company is launching the Opportunity Growth Fund. The new fund is aiming to address a dearth of diversity in tech by directing its investments toward startups led by entrepreneurs from minority backgrounds. [Built In SF]
A16z launches fund for diverse founders. The same day that SoftBank unveiled its new fund, fellow VC company Andreessen Horowitz also announced a fund focused on underrepresented founders. The Talent x Opportunity (TxO) Fund has reportedly been in the works for several months. It will start with $2.2 million in donations from its partners, and is expected to grow from there. [TechCrunch]
Tim Cook addresses racism. On Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook put out a statement in response to the growing Black Lives Matter protests. The statement followed Apple Music’s participation in the music industry-led Blackout Tuesday and said the tech company “must do more” to battle racism. The company also announced a donation to the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit that fights racial injustice and mass incarceration. [Engadget]
SF tech companies donate to anti-racism groups. Many SF and Bay Area tech companies are also stepping up in this moment by pledging donations to racial justice causes. Among those included in a list compiled by Protocol are Airbnb, Slack, Lyft, Robinhood, Stripe, DoorDash, Box, Eaze, Pinterest, GoFundMe and Niantic. [Protocol]
Ohanian resigns from Reddit board. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian announced Friday he is resigning from the board of the social media platform and is asking that he be replaced by a black candidate. Additionally, he is promising to direct future gains from his Reddit stock to causes that serve the black community, and he’s donating $1 million to Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp. [Twitter]
Snapchat won’t promote Trump. After Snap CEO Evan Spiegel issued a stirring blog post on racism, the company moved to stop promoting the president’s Snapchat account on its Discover platform because the company felt the president’s recent statements on the protests following George Floyd’s killing were glorifying violence. This action stands in contrast to Facebook’s defense of its decision not to take action against President Donald Trump’s recent pronouncements, which are amplified across all social media platforms. [Built In SF]
Rents drop; are workers leaving? According to new data from rental site Zumper, rents are down about 9.2 percent in San Francisco, suggesting that some tech workers are leaving the Bay Area to work remotely from places that have a lower cost of living, just as a number of surveys have suggested they might. Mountain View, Menlo Park and San Bruno — home to Google, Facebook and YouTube — have seen rents drop almost 15 percent. [Business Insider]
Unity Technologies eyes IPO. Even amid the ongoing pandemic and civil unrest, the IPO talk won’t quit. SF gaming technology company Unity Technologies is reportedly preparing for an IPO as early as this fall. The company has reportedly tapped Goldman Sachs Group to lead the offering and was most recently valued at $6.3 billion. [SF Business Times]
