PH
In general, one of the obstacles that black entrepreneurs have is raising funds to either scale up or keep their business afloat. Furthermore, due to a shortage of venture finance, many black entrepreneurs rely on their savings to launch their firms. According to data given by CNBC, black entrepreneurs have historically suffered disadvantages in accessing VC funding, receiving less than 2% of total funds each year.
Iddris Sandu, aged 26, never gave up when he founded Spatial Labs, a web3 infrastructure and hardware startup that launched in 2021. According to Tech Crunch, Sandu founded Spatial Labs in order to produce augmented reality products and shopping experiences.
“The metaverse to us is not a virtual space that people go to spend time in. It’s a world in which we can add more context to your real world and make your real world more enjoyable,” Sandu told the platform. “We’re going to be responsible for catalyzing a completely new generation to be more conscious of their environment; more conscious of how they spend and how they buy.”
Spatial Labs raised $10 million in a venture round headed by Blockchain Capital earlier this year, with participation from Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners. In 2022, the business created a stir in the industry by releasing microchip-embedded clothing known as Gen One Hardwear.
According to TechCrunch, the LNQ microchip supplied users with the item’s provenance and ownership history, which could be seen on the blockchain. According to the outlet, the LNQ works similarly to a QR code. Using a phone to tap the LNQ chip opened online and in-person activities such as virtual concerts.
“The chip, for example, allows brands to add loyalty programs directly into their products rather than, say, signing someone up for an email list. To gain access to the loyalty benefits, all consumers must do is bring their phone within proximity to the chip sown into the item they purchased from the brand,” according to Tech Crunch.
Sandu is now one of the youngest black entrepreneurs and solo founders to receive a double-digit seed round. Sandu intends to scale Spatial Labs’ blockchain-enabled technology and extend into other areas such as media and entertainment. “We’re also thinking about reducing the barrier of entry into web3 and augmented reality using our chip technology,” he noted.
Sandu rose to prominence after creating mobile software that drew the attention of former US President Barack Obama and landed him at the White House, where he got the honorary presidential scholar award while still in high school.
The software engineer sees himself as a “cultural architect” who wants to “level the playing field” between Silicon Valley and young communities of color. Sandu, who was born and reared in Harbor City, California, with Ghanaian parents, would never forget a terrifying experience he had when he was eight years old: his father wanted to take him on a trip to Ghana.
“But on the fourth day of the trip, he abandoned me in this village, took my passport and came back to the States,” Sandu told Oxford University’s Music and Style Magzine, adding that he was abandoned for almost nine months before getting into contact with an NGO which helped him travel back home.
He returned to the United States just as the first iPhone was revealed, which launched his career in technology.
Sandu, who was just 10 years old at the time, began learning programming on his own for the next two years at a public library, when he was discovered by a designer from Google, who offered him an internship at the company’s headquarters.
He began programming at the age of 13 and worked on various projects, including the first Google weblog and Google Plus, among others. Sandu, on the other hand, was motivated to make a difference, so at the age of 15, he created an app for his high school that provided pupils with turn-by-turn directions to their classrooms.
Sandu garnered widespread attention as the sole student-created software in California, earning him a visit with former President Barack Obama. Sandu devised an algorithm that he later sold to Instagram during that time, and by the age of 18, he was already consulting for Snapchat before arriving at Uber, where he created software (Autonomous Collision Detection Interface) for its self-driving cars.
Sandu met rapper Nipsey Hussle at a neighborhood Starbucks in 2017 and, in three weeks, they had transformed an abandoned storefront in Los Angeles into the Marathon Clothing Store, which he promoted in schools and at higher levels.
Sandu’s vision is to build Spatial Labs to become one of the fastest-rising unicorns.
