Angela Benton

Angela Benton (born (1981-05-22)May 22, 1981) is an American businesswoman. Benton founded NewME (acquired),[1]  the first accelerator for minorities globally in 2011. She is a pioneer of diversity in the technology industry and one of the most important African-Americans in the technology industry.[2] She has helped minority-led tech companies raise over $47 million in venture capital funding.

Angela Benton
Born (1981-05-22) May 22, 1981
Chicago, Illinois, United States
OccupationEntrepreneur
Years active2007-present
Known forFounder of NewME

Benton has received numerous accolades for her work some of which include Goldman Sachs’ 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, Fast Company's Most Influential Women In Technology,[3] Business Insiders’ 25 Most Influential African-Americans in Technology[4] and many more.  In addition, Benton has been featured in numerous national and international media outlets including CNN's award-winning documentary series by Soledad O'Brien Black in America: The New Promised Land: Silicon Valley[5], MSNBC,[6] Bloomberg,[7] Inc,[8] Forbes,[9] Good Morning America[10], and the Wall Street Journal[11] where she was a featured essayist for the paper's 125th Anniversary edition on "The Future of Entrepreneurship".[11]

Career

Black Web 2.0

Benton launched Black Web 2.0 in August 2007.[12] It is said that the site was launched out of her frustration to find information on what Blacks were doing in technology both from an entrepreneurial/startup and corporate perspective. The site quickly gain community amongst Black digerati and early adopters, giving them a place to be heard and featured.[13] Markus Robinson, a partner in the site and its COO until 2010, was a key figure in growing the platform. In the early days of Black Web 2.0 Benton served as the editor and main writer for the site, along with Robinson, and used the platform to feature and discuss key topics in Black Culture, technology, and where the two intersected. The duo often critiqued products and the digital strategies of African-American media businesses and forecasted trends in the arena, as such they quickly became the leading experts in the space.

NewME accelerator

In June 2011 Benton launched the first NewME accelerator cohort in Silicon Valley. Key figures that participated in the program as mentors, speakers, or supporters included some of the technology industry's elite; Mitch Kapor, Ben Horowitz, Vivek Wadhwa, Google, Twitter, Andreessen Horowitz, Facebook et al. The program was largely responsible for being a catalyst for elevating the conversation around diversity in the technology industry for both ethnic minorities[14] and women.[15] Some alumni of NewME have went on to become venture capitalist themselves at Kapor Capital, Andreessen Horowitz,[16] and TEDco.[17]

Benton sold NewME[1] in December 2018 though under her leadership the company helped hundreds of minority companies raise over $47 million in venture capital funding.

CNN's Black in America & Silicon Valley's Race Problem

The NewME Accelerator's inaugural class was featured on CNN's fourth installment of Black in America reported by award-winning journalist Soledad O'Brien. Benton was featured as one of the primary subjects in the documentary. The documentary, whose focus was on chronicling the stories of 8 NewME Accelerator participants that traveled to Silicon Valley to work on their startups, catapulted the NewME Accelerator to a national stage and sparked a heated industry debate on the lack of minorities in technology.[18] At the height of the debate tech maven Michael Arrington, known for off color comments, became a target for out lash on the topic.[19]

Other

Angela Benton is a breast cancer survivor[20] and advocate for health and wellness as it relates to entrepreneurship.[21][22] She authored REVIVAL[23] in 2017 after her cancer diagnosis.

Influence and Accomplishments
  • Fast Company Magazine’s Most Influential Women in Technology, 2010[3]
  • Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) Hall of Fame, 2010[24]
  • National Urban League Woman of Power honoree, 2010
  • Ebony Magazine’s Power 150; 2011, 2012
  • 40 Women of Power under 40, Black Enterprise, 2012
  • TheRoot 100: 2010, 2011, 2012[25]
  • TheGrio100, 2012[26]
  • Digital Vanguard Award, Women Interactive at Spelman University
  • Frost & Sullivan Innovator honoree, 2012
  • 25 Most Influential African-Americans in Technology, Business Insider, 2013[4]
  • “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs”, Goldman Sachs, 2013
  • The New Guard: 50 Women Who Rule, Marie Claire, November 2013[27]
  • Business Insiders’ 46 Most Important African Americans In Technology, April 2014[2]
  • Marie Claire’s 20 Women Changing The Ratio, September 2014
  • BET, Tech Maven Award, July 2018[28]

Philanthropy

Benton traveled to Malawi in 2017 to support local villages with solar powered electricity through a micro fund[29] and partnership established with Kuyere!, a project dedicated to providing solar electricity to the poorest rural households in Africa. Her investment powered 10 villages in Malawi.[30] She produced a documentary series titled, Venture, on her time there.[31]

Filmography
Television and film roles
Year Title Role Notes
2011 Black in America Herself Episode: "Silicon Valley: The New Promised Land"
2017 Sally Hansen "Shetopia" Commercial Herself
2017 Queen Boss[32] Herself/Guest Judge 1 Episode[33]

Bibliography
  • Benton, Angela (2017). Revival: How I Rebuilt a Life for Longevity After Cancer, Burnout, and Heartbreak. Angela Benton, Inc. ISBN 978-0998640822

References
  1. "Angela Benton Sells NewMe Accelerator to Lighthouse". Black Enterprise. 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  2. Dickey, Megan Rose. "The 46 Most Important African-Americans In Technology". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  3. Wilson, Zachary (2010-03-29). "THE MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY 2010 – Angela Benton". Fast Company. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  4. Dickey, Megan Rose. "The 25 Most Influential African-Americans In Technology". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  5. "In America". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  6. NewME (2015-01-22), Angela Benton on MSNBC's NewsNation w/ Tamron Hall, retrieved 2019-05-23
  7. NewME (2015-01-22), Angela Benton on Diversity in Tech on Bloomberg Bottomline w/ Mark Crumpton, retrieved 2019-05-23
  8. "The Tech Bubble Is Real--but It's Not What You Think". Inc Magazine. October 2015. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  9. Bradshaw, Leslie. "Angela Benton on Success, Hard Work, and Thinking Outside the Tech Bubble". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  10. "Video: The science behind what causes stress". ABC News. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  11. Benton, Angela (2014-07-07). "Angela Benton on the Future of Entrepreneurship". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  12. Morell, Katie (November 29, 2011). "Angela Benton On Her Quest To Diversify Silicon Valley". American Express. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  13. "Black Techies Find Niche Online". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  14. Allen, Samantha (2014-08-22). "We Need to Talk About Silicon Valley's Racism". Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  15. NewME (2015-01-22), Angela Benton on the Lack on Women in Tech (Bloomberg), retrieved 2019-05-23
  16. "Andreessen Horowitz unveils fund to link companies to cultural leaders". PE Hub. 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  17. by (2019-02-25). "Serial Entrepreneur McKeever Conwell II On GHOGH Podcast". Moguldom. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  18. Dreyfuss, Joel. "Silicon Valley's Invisible Blacks". The Root. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  19. McCoy, Frank. "TechCrunch Founder's Black Amnesia". The Root. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  20. Kaulbach, Jasia; Beier, Chris (May 10, 2017). "Pregnant at 16, Founder at 30, Diagnosed With Cancer at 35. How 1 Woman Succeeded Despite Everything". Inc.com. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  21. Entrepreneurship, Startups, and Maintaining Your Health, retrieved 2019-05-23
  22. Staff, Inc (May 10, 2017). "What 1 Entrepreneur Did When She Discovered She Had Cancer". Inc.com. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  23. Jiang, Linda (2017-10-30). "Angela Benton shares her inspirational breast cancer journey in conversation with Vanessa De Luca". Color. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  24. "RECIPIENTS OF MULTICULTURAL MEDIA, TELECOM AND INTERNET COUNCIL AWARD" (PDF). 2010. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  25. "Angela Benton: The Root 100 Interview". My CMS. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  26. TheGrio (2012-02-27). "TheGrio's 100: Angela Benton, founder of Black Web 2.0, covers the black tech world". theGrio. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  27. "MC@Work: The New Guard". Marie Claire. 2013-10-17. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  28. "Angela Benton". BET.com. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  29. "The Power of Women, Minorities...and Solar". Cheddar. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  30. "Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Helps Power Villages in Malawi". Black Enterprise. 2017-08-28. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  31. "VENTURE - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  32. Walker, Rhiannon (2017-01-12). "Centric's 'Queen Boss' is the 'Shark Tank' for sisters". The Undefeated. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  33. "Centric's "Queen Boss" looks for entrepreneurs". Retrieved 2019-05-23.
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