Black tech firm receives $17M to expand business, aiming for $1B in revenue.

Delali Dzirasa is the founder and CEO of Fearless, a digital services and software development firm launched in 2009. Starting with only $6,000 in his mother's basement, he had a vision to make it a $1 billion company by 2030.

Dzirasa has successfully grown the company for 14 years by bootstrapping, a funding option that relies on personal finances and revenue instead of outside investment. This is a common choice for Black owners who are unable to obtain mainstream financing. Fearless has since provided services for the government, the NFL, and Deloitte.

Now the firm is expanding into two new business units. The tech division, Fearless Digital, will build software to solve problems and drive impact. The Fearless Guides division will focus on people and organizational empowerment.

Fearless has secured $17 million in financing from Truist Bank and Maryland Small Business Development Authority, and is working to raise an additional $10 million this year. The company's goals also include enhancing the lives of 100 million individuals and establishing a presence in 10 countries.

Dzirasa is disrupting the tech industry, where reportedly under 10% of employees are Black and less than 30% are female. Fearless has more than 200 people on staff, with 49% female and 38% BIPOC, and has been named to the Inc 5000 list and Ernst & Young's Entrepreneurs of the Year for the Mid-Atlantic Region.

In addition, Fearless has created an incubator to help other founders of color build and scale their businesses.

Reflecting on his firm, Dzirasa said, "Fearless has never been a conventional kind of company. We’ve always been fearless in our belief that we could help build a better tomorrow. We can’t be timid as we address problems with our civic services or public health. Today’s problems require us to be fearless. And we plan to continue to be just that. We have established that we’re fearless to build better tech for our government and the people they serve."

[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]