In 2020, Braze launched Tech for an Equitable Future, offering underrepresented founders a year of free access to our platform and support services. The program helps early-stage companies overcome limited resources and marketing expertise by making customer engagement a core part of their company’s strategy to drive business growth.
With Braze’s technology and guidance, founders onboard, retain, and nurture customers more effectively, building lasting relationships and contributing to a more diverse and equitable tech ecosystem.
We focused on early-stage, high-growth business-to-consumer (B2C) startups led by underrepresented founders and dug into their biggest hurdles—tight budgets, limited marketing expertise, and the need to scale customer engagement fast.
Each year, we’ve improved this program and our overall offering. Tech for an Equitable Future is currently supported by more than 100 Braze employees across a variety of departments. This cross-functional support is what fuels this program, in which we combine tailored onboarding, hands-on training, and a resource hub full of best practices.
Last year, we began to work with our customers to participate in this program. We brought in Braze customer BET+, a leading streaming platform, to share customer engagement best practices and to provide mentorship to select companies. This year, we are excited for Coursea, an online course provider, to provide similar support.
As of July 1, 2025, Braze has donated over $750,000 in annualized product value to 24 active startups led by underrepresented founders. Of these, 16 are women-founded companies. For some, the growth was so strong that these companies graduated into full-paying customers. We are continuing to help these companies achieve business value through the Braze customer engagement platform. By putting Braze in the hands of underrepresented entrepreneurs, we’re not only fueling growth—we’re helping build a more equitable future for tech.
