Author Archives: Jason Scott

Our accelerator for Black founders calls for a second class

Last June, Google announced an expansion of our support for Black entrepreneurs, including the launch of the inaugural Google for Startups Accelerator: Black Founders. Today, we are opening applications for a second series of the accelerator. And this year we have expanded the program to include Black-led startups across all of North America, newly opening the program to applicants from both Canada and the Caribbean. 

Our inaugural 2020 cohort featured twelve Black-led startups for a 10-week virtual program. Today, these founders have collectively raised over $40 million in venture capital funding. With the support of Google, our alumni have used technology, data and machine learning to solve a wide range of meaningful challenges, from helping individuals to get out of debt to improving the healthcare system for at-risk youth to increasing sales for small businesses.

During the upcoming accelerator, we will pair startups with Google experts to identify and solve their most pressing technical challenges, from implementing machine learning to developing mobile apps to improving user experience design. Founders will also participate in workshops focused on fundraising, hiring and sales. 

Kanarys, a diversity, equity and inclusion-focused platform, graduated from the inaugural Black Founders Accelerator in 2020. Founder and CEO, Mandy Price, says she found the program provided key mentorship for the technical challenges her company faced around machine learning, since her team uses hundreds of data sources to quantify equity and inclusion, uncover structural biases and drive systemic change. “Our partners at Google were instrumental in helping us scale our use of machine learning and natural language processing through AutoML (automated machine learning),” she says. “The accelerator was a wonderful experience with great leadership.”

With the Google for Startups Accelerator: Black Founders, we are excited to continue investing in top founders as they tackle today’s biggest challenges. If you or someone you know would be a great fit for the program, we encourage you to apply here by July 9. The program will start on August 16, 2021.

How we’re supporting startups combating climate change

Combating climate change requires action from everyone—businesses, governments, cities and people. We believe that by investing in technology we can help build novel solutions and empower people to take action. Which is why we’re focused on elevating people using technology to combat climate change and create a healthier planet for everyone. 


This month we launched the Google for Startups Accelerator: Climate Change for climate-focused technology startups across Canada and the United States. This 10-week program helps bring the best of Google to startups using artificial intelligence and machine learning to combat climate change. In addition to mentorship and technical project support, the accelerator will focus on product design, customer acquisition, and leadership development for founders. If you or someone you know would be a great fit for the Google for Startups Accelerator: Climate Change, encourage them to apply by April 1, 2021.


This program builds on the success of last year's Google for Startups Accelerator: Sustainable Development Goals which supports startups from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Through this program, we supported Everimpact from France, a company that combines satellite imagery and ground sensing to monitor air quality and carbon emissions in cities, and Ororatech from Germany, a commercial supplier of infrared satellite data used for early detection and real-time monitoring of wildfires. 


Supporting startups focused on climate change is just one way we’re taking action as a company. Last September, our CEO Sundar Pichai announceda set of ambitious sustainability commitments, including a vision for a carbon-free future for everyone and our mission to empower people and communities to realize their own potential for impact. Recently, we released our 2020 Climate Report and reaffirmed our ongoing commitment to making sure that everyone—people, cities, governments and businesses—have the tools to be part of the solution. We’re optimistic that technology and entrepreneurship can help avert climate change.