Claris International Inc., an Apple company, today announced a groundbreaking initiative with Venture Fund and Startup Studio, EonXI – combining the power of low-code software development, business training, mentorship, and community networking with one unified goal: expand diversity in technology and business ownership.
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The lack of diversity in technology and Black-owned startups is well-documented and long-standing. According to Pew Research, Black workers comprise 11% of all employed adults, but just 5% of engineers and architects, and 7% of workers in computer occupations. Entrepreneurship within the Black community also struggled this past year – 40% of businesses that closed due to the pandemic were Black-owned, compared to just 20% of all active U.S. businesses. Finally, data released by McKinsey also shows that 42% of Black workers currently hold jobs that could be subject to automation by 2030.
“The need to invest and increase diversity in tech broadly, and in Black entrepreneurs specifically, has never been greater,” said Claris CEO Brad Freitag. “At the same time, the massive growth and tremendous power of low-code technologies represent some of the most significant opportunities to close this gap that we’ve seen in generations. This partnership with EonXI affirms a deep commitment on the part of both companies to not just talk about or study these problems, but to give Black entrepreneurs what they need to be successful, both as business owners and software developers.”
Gartner forecasts that, by 2024, 75% of large enterprises will be using at least four low-code development tools for IT application development. In part, this is due to the fact that current U.S. demand for IT workers stands at roughly 500,000 open positions, but with only 50,000 computer science graduates per year. This translates to a significant gap not only in tech diversity, but pure IT talent – a gap which can be filled with a more diverse workforce educated in low code.
“Narrowing the racial wealth gap starts with access to technology and resources, hence why we are building communities of diverse developers and diverse entrepreneurs,” said Aaron Wilson, General Partner at EonXI.
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The Low Code Accelerator program from EonXI and Claris will provide graduates with the operational expertise and mentorship to form and scale a business as well as technical training on the Claris low-code development platform. Mentorship, both business and technical, will be provided by a large network of program partners, including Cris Ippolite, a 25-year Claris developer and President of iSolutions, as well as Cathy House, 15-year entrepreneurship Adjunct Professor in the Executive MBA program at Howard University.
“Every day, I work with brilliant Black entrepreneurs who have industry-changing ideas, but no technical training to bring those ideas to life through software,” said Cathy House. “While we must invest in closing the educational gaps that led us to this point, I see tremendous opportunity in low-code software development to empower these entrepreneurs today. The team at EonXI is world-class not only in the companies they help build, but in the partnerships they forge that help them accomplish their mission. Working with an organization that has the pedigree and history of Claris to lift up Black entrepreneurs is a tremendous win, and I’m proud to be a part of this program.”
