View source for Blavity

{{short description|African-American culture blog}}
{{Infobox website
| name           = Blavity
| url            = {{URL|blavity.com}}
| logo           =
| commercial     = <!-- "Yes", "No" or leave blank -->
| type           = [[New media]] and lifestyle for [[African Americans]]<ref name="tc-sep2016">{{cite web|author1=Sarah Buhr|title=Blavity, the BuzzFeed for black millennials, is raising million and gets a redesign|url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/12/blavity-the-buzzfeed-for-black-millennials-gets-1-million-and-a-redesign/|website=[[TechCrunch]]|accessdate=January 10, 2017|date=September 12, 2016}}</ref><ref name="tc-sep2015">{{cite web|author=Kaya Thomas|author-link=Kaya Thomas|title=Blavity Hopes To Be The Digital Voice of Black Millennials|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/09/07/blavity-hopes-to-be-the-digital-voice-of-black-millennials/|website=TechCrunch|accessdate=January 10, 2017|date=September 7, 2015}}</ref>
| language       = English
| author         = [[Morgan DeBaun]]<br />Aaron Samuels
| launch_date    = {{start date and age|2014|07}}<!-- {{start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| current_status = Online
}}
'''Blavity''' is an American [[digital media]] company and website based in [[Los Angeles]] targeting black [[millennials]].<ref name="tc-sep2015" /><ref name="yahoo-jan2015">{{cite web|author1=Mandi Woodruff|title=5 black business leaders who are changing the face of Silicon Valley|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/groundbreaking-business-leaders-silicon-valley-190329310.html|website=[[Yahoo Finance]]|accessdate=January 10, 2017|date=February 5, 2016}}</ref><ref name="nymag-nov2016">{{cite web|author1=Dayna Evans|title=How I Get It Done: Morgan DeBaun, Co-Founder and CEO of Content Platform Blavity|url=https://nymag.com/thecut/2016/11/how-the-co-founder-of-blavity-gets-things-done.html|website=[[New York (magazine)|NYmag.com]]|accessdate=January 10, 2017|date=November 9, 2016}}</ref> Their mission is to "economically and creatively support Black millennials across the African scape, so they can pursue the work they love, and change the world in the process."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blavity.com/about|title=Blavity|website=www.blavity.com|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224135134/https://blavity.com/about|archive-date=24 February 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Founding ==
Blavity was founded by CEO [[Morgan DeBaun]] and co-founded by Jonathan Jackson, Jeff Nelson and Aaron Samuels in 2014;<ref name="yahoo-jan2015" /><ref name="cnn-20apr2017">{{cite news|last1=Ketchum|first1=John|title=Blavity's CEO on taking risks and building a community for black millennials|url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/04/20/technology/morgan-debaun-blavity/|accessdate=May 2, 2017|newspaper=[[CNN]]|date=April 20, 2017}}</ref> DeBaun had worked at [[Intuit]] for three years prior but left to found the new company. Blavity's name is a combination of the words "black" and "gravity",<ref name="yahoo-jan2015" /> inspired by DeBaun's experience as an undergraduate at [[Washington University in St. Louis|Washington University]]; she was struck that eating lunch with a few friends at their regular table in the college cafeteria over time attracted more and more black students to their discussions of everything from politics to pop culture, a kind of intellectual "black gravity".<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.essence.com/culture/morgan-debaun-future-15|title=Meet Blavity Co-Founder Morgan DeBaun And The Digital Empire She's Building|last=Mtshali|first=Lihle Z.|date=2017-06-05|work=Essence|access-date=2017-06-25}}</ref>
== Content, visitors and growth ==
In ''Essence'', Lihle Z. Mtshali described the site as focused "on sub-cultures, community, and local happenings in different cities rather than covering celebrities and mainstream black culture."<ref name=":0" /> The site contains approximately 40% [[user-generated content]].<ref name=":0" />
In September 2016, Blavity reached millions of unique visitors per month.<ref name="tc-sep2016" /> That month, the company closed a one million dollar round of [[seed funding]].<ref name="tc-sep2016" /><ref name="nymag-nov2016" /> Investor and mentor was Monique Woodard, a famous African-American businesswoman.<ref>{{Cite web|last=by|date=2018-01-18|title=Monique Woodard Is Leaving 500 Startups, Destination: Unknown|url=https://moguldom.com/143063/monique-woodard-is-leaving-500-startups-destination-unknown-for-now/|access-date=2021-02-10|website=Moguldom|language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2016, Blavity launched two conferences: ''EmpowerHer'', a conference in [[New York City]] for black women,<ref name="bgn-may2016">{{cite web|url=https://blackgirlnerds.com/morgan-debaun-creator-blavity-talks-empowerher-first-conference-black-women-empowerher/|title=Morgan DeBaun's Blavity, Talks "EmpowerHer," Their First Conference for Black Women: EmpowerHer|date=May 14, 2016|website=[[Black Girl Nerds]]|author1=Cynthia Franciillon|accessdate=May 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110232551/https://blackgirlnerds.com/morgan-debaun-creator-blavity-talks-empowerher-first-conference-black-women-empowerher/|archive-date=January 10, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> and ''Afrotech'', a [[San Francisco]] summit for black people in technology.<ref name="wired-15feb2017">{{cite magazine|date=February 15, 2017|title=Inside Blavity, the Startup on a Quest to Be the News Source for Black Millennials|url=https://www.wired.com/2017/02/black-news-matters-blavity/|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|last1=Brooks Jr.|first1=Carl|accessdate=May 2, 2017}}</ref>
In 2017, Blavity launched a black women's lifestyle platform, 21Ninety,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/21ninety-blavity-black-women.php|title=Spinoff from Blavity caters to young black women}}</ref> and acquired two other properties, the black entertainment website Shadow and Act<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jetmag.com/entertainment/this-celebrated-black-cinema-website-has-an-exciting-new-home/ | title=JetMag – the future is fueled by Jet }}</ref> and the black travel website Travel Noire.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/40469638/blavity-just-acquired-travel-noire-a-travel-site-for-black-millennials|title = Blavity just acquired Travel Noire, a travel site for black millennials|date = 18 September 2017}}</ref>
In July 2018, Blavity raised $6.5 million in new funding through [[GV (company)|GV]], [[Comcast Ventures]], Plexo Capital, and [[Baron Davis]] Enterprises. The funds are intended to increase the size of the company's engineering group, which works on new content, and establish a new office in Atlanta.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/news/2018/07/20/blavity-raises-cash-for-digital-media.html |title=Blavity raises $6.5 million for digital media for black millennials |first=Annlee |last=Ellingson |date=July 20, 2018 |work=[[L.A. Biz]] |accessdate=July 21, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blackenterprise.com/blavity-raises-money-black-founder/ |title=Blavity Founder Raises Over $6 Million in Funding |first=Selena |last=Hill |date=July 20, 2018 |work=[[Black Enterprise]] |accessdate=July 21, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://hypepotamus.com/news/blavity-opens-atlanta-engineering-office/ |title=Black Millennial Media Startup Blavity Confirms It's Using Series A to Open Atlanta Office |first=Holly |last=Beilin |date=August 28, 2018 |work=Hypepotamus |accessdate=September 8, 2018 }}</ref>
In January 2023, Blavity launched Home and Texture. The new media brand is targeted at multicultural audiences buying homes, designing their spaces and starting families.
== Recognition ==
In 2016, two of the Blavity founders, DeBaun and Samuels, were named to the [[Forbes 30 Under 30]] list of "young people transforming the future of America".<ref name="forbes-jan2016">{{cite web|author1=Emily Inverso|title=30 Under 30: Meet The Young People Transforming Media|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilyinverso/2016/01/04/30-under-30-meet-the-young-people-transforming-the-future-of-media/|website=[[Forbes (magazine)|Forbes]]|accessdate=January 10, 2017|date=January 4, 2016}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*{{official}}
[[Category:African-American mass media]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2014]]