When Gloria Oppong found out that she was not only a finalist for DMZ’s Black Innovation Summit, but also the only woman, she said she felt both a sense of honour and intimidation.
Little did she know, she would be crowned the winner of the competition too, taking home a whopping $30,000 prize.
DMZ, a tech hub through Toronto Metropolitan University, held its fourth annual Black Innovation Summit earlier this week, a competition for ten Black tech entrepreneurs to pitch their startup ideas to fellow entrepreneurs, industry executives and stakeholders in hopes of winning grants towards their businesses. The competition gives away a total of $50,000 in grants: $30,000 to first place, $15,000 to second and $5,000 to third.
After a full day of networking, round table discussions and keynotes by Black leaders in tech, Oppong was awarded the prize for her company, Cleanster.
Her platform connects property managers to top-rated cleaners and was born out of Oppong’s personal need for a cleaner following the birth of her third child. Her friend and later co-founder, Derrick Agyiri, had a platform which connected freelancers to various services, including cleaning. But after realizing an increasing demand for cleaners, yet a lack of liveable wages, they shifted their focus to solely represent that area.
Oppong’s goal through Cleanster is to alleviate the stress of property managers finding cleaners, while the cleaners are able to put up their own rates and get paid on the same day of the service.
Originally, tech was nowhere near Oppong’s reach, as she has a 12-year background in microbiology. After participating in a past project by Agyiri, she realized that the worlds between science and tech weren’t so far apart.
“That’s where my love started to really kind of develop for the tech world,” she told Now Toronto on Wednesday. “Because I have the processes, the structure, analytical skills and a science background, I was able to see that you can leverage technology to enhance anything.”
Alongside taking first place, Oppong also won an additional $5,000 for being the People’s Choice recipient.
With her newfound fortune, Oppong plans to expand her company to California in the near future.
“This prize money is going to go a long way,” Oppong said. “I am very grateful.”
The Black Innovations Program, which began in 2019, was launched after identifying a gap in access and opportunity for Black entrepreneurs in tech, according to the program manager, Yinka Adesesan.
“Through our programs, community building events and networking events that we organize, we try to cultivate those networks so that the individual can then leverage a competitive advantage for their business,” Adesesan said. “Beyond the access is the ongoing supply of additional resources which is important to keep their business alive and give it a chance to succeed and become something great.”
Although Black-owned enterprises only account for 2.1 per cent of Canadian businesses, according to Statistics Canada, in 2023, they were the most likely to report a very optimistic future outlook over the next 12 months in comparison to all business owners.
“We have a lot of Black talent who are just not seen as Black tech businesses. And so for us, we see this as an opportunity to tap into a demographic that has so much potential,” Adesesan said.
“It will add so much value to the economy.”
Though this year’s competition is over, Adesesan encourages Black entrepreneurs, both aspiring and high-potential startups, to apply to the various opportunities that DMZ offers within its Black Innovation Programs.
