Crain’s Detroit Business
Nick Manes
July 12, 2022
A metro Detroit startup is among those selected to participate in a $5 million fund for Latino-led companies.
Silicon Valley software giant Google on Monday announced the 50 companies from around the country selected to participate in its first Latino Founders Fund. Among the companies selected was ToDooly, formerly ToDoolie, a Grosse Pointe Park-based platform for matching students seeking cash and homeowners seeking odd jobs done around the house.
“Being a recipient of the inaugural Latino Founders Fund means additional validation as a scalable technology company,” Sergio Rodriguez, founder and chief executive officer of the company, wrote in an email to Crain’s. “Acceptance into the inaugural cohort was highly(selective), we are extremely privileged to join such a nurturing founder community, and even more excited to be working alongside other compelling Latinx founders in Tech.”
Rodriguez and the other founders selected from around the country will each receive $100,000 cash grants, as well as support and mentorship from Google employees, $100,000 in Google Cloud credits, and access to mental health therapists at no cost, according to a blog post from the tech giant.
The Google blog post notes that Latinos now represent 20% of the U.S. population, but Latino companies account for just 2% of venture capital funding, citing a report earlier this year from Crunchbase.
“These Latino Founders Fund recipients have created amazing businesses that are already making a significant impact,” the post says. “They are helping solve some of the country’s biggest problems, from providing accessible, personalized reproductive health support to helping college graduates get out of debt. and creating a more equitable legal system for Americans.”
The full cohort of Google’s Latino Founders Fund can be found here. Rodriguez notes that ToDooly stands as the only company from Southeast Michigan to be selected.
“Our neighbor Chicago had five Latinx-led startups join this cohort, we are the only one representing the city of Detroit,” Rodriguez wrote. “To me, this is a great opportunity to show the entrepreneurial ecosystem what Detroit entrepreneurs are all about, but also it shows we still have plenty more work to do.”