Issa Rae is diversifying her portfolio and partnering up with another Black women to make it happen.
Variety announced that the actress is getting into the tech business, acquiring a stake in new Los Angeles based tech startup, Streamlytics.
Streamlytics is the brainchild of tech pioneer, Angela Benton. Benton first rose to prominence with BlackWeb 2.0, a media site way ahead of its time focused on highlighting creatives of color. She then went on to create NewME, an entrepreneurship education program that helped to accelerate minority tech owners and raised over $47 million in funding.
Streamlytics’ goal is to make streaming media data accessible to everyone while simultaneously helping consumers own their data in the process. The company goes through a process of compiling the data via one of its consumer facing products, cleaning and enhancing that data, issuing a data license identifying the owner of said data and then purchasing the data from the owner for Streamlytics.
The company’s first data collecting application for consumers is called “Clture” and it focuses on helping minority users own and monetize their data. Benton also plans to sell anonymous data and analytics insights to networks, studios, producers, agencies and other creators. It is a new revolution in data ownership and transparency.
Rae issued a statement highlighting why she chose to get behind the company saying, “As streaming services become the standard for how people consume content and information, tools and companies like Streamlytics are necessary for transparency and consumer ownership. Angela’s drive and innovative spirit is the reason why she is a pioneer in the tech space and why I’m excited to partner with her in this endeavor.”
Benton echoed Rae’s enthusiasm saying, “Having Issa involved as an owner is beyond exciting. Her pioneering work as both a creator and as a businesswoman creating digital-first content that has transcended the internet-only medium aligns seamlessly with our company’s core values on ownership.”
According to a 2015 Nielsen report, African Americans consume more media than any other group across all mediums. And according to CNBC, U.S. consumers spend about $2.1 billion on streaming services monthly. A leader in tech diversity, Benton hopes that Streamlytics will be able to help people of color put some of that money back in their pockets.
The tech entrepreneur spoke to Moguldum about the importance of data ownership. “With the overwhelming number of issues around data privacy as of late, Streamlytics is excited to be at the forefront of helping consumers to actually own their data, and then decide if they want to monetize it.”
The game is changing y’all! Let’s all get on board.
Photo Courtesy of Michael Owen Baker / The Los Angeles Times