“They See Me Rollinnnnng”…

What many people may not know is, while Chamillionaire took a break from being rapper, he didn’t take a break from building a business empire. We’ve seen him, sitting on the front row during basketball season, with people on Twitter wondering “what’s Chamillionaire doing there” or “how can Chamillionaire afford to sit there“. Meanwhile, Chamillionaire has been minding the business that pays him – literally! The Grammy-Award winner has spent years making smart investments in the tech-startup field. Hakeem Seriki (Chamillionaire), was one of the early investors in Lyft. Now, the rapper is looking to make the tech industry more diverse by putting his money where his mouth is; He, along with rapper E-40, and the platform Republic, plan to invest $25,000 into a woman or minority led start-up.  The contest ends June 15th.

In an interview with Yahoo, Chamillionaire explained why it was important for him to specifically launch this initiative for minority/women led start-ups:

“I’ve been in this tech industry for a while and I’ve been seeing a lot of people out here trying to raise capital and a lot of time it just doesn’t go to people of color or women. Now that I’m here, I see that there is a certain type of founder that gets, you know, funding from these companies. And I understand that people tend to spend money on things that they’re comfortable with.”

“There are a lot of people that have great ideas that want to create disruptive companies that change the world but everybody doesn’t have the skills to be able to do that. So, ultimately when I’m looking at somebody, I’m looking them in the eyes and asking them questions and I have to believe that they’re able to take this company from A to Z,” 

Traditionally, in the U.S., only 16% of funds awarded were given to startups with at least 1 woman.  Less than 3% are given to startups comprised of all women.

If you’re interested in participating in this life-changing initiative, download the Convoz app; you have until June 15th to enter!