In 2024, workplace equality has become unfairly politicised. Famous CEOs from Elon Musk to Lululemon founder Chip Wilson are waging war on DEI, while other smaller employers are scrapping initiatives, arguing that such initiatives can be divisive rather than inclusive.
But let’s not forget that some of the most important employment rights, including gender pay gap reporting and shared parental leave, are of course DEI initiatives. In fact, anything that’s designed to address discrimination at work and in society is an example of DEI growth.
Our Startups 100 DEI Award celebrates the firms and founders who are championing progress. Read on to discover the shortlist, and which startup we named our winner.
WINNER – Black Seed VC
It’s a fundamental source of funding for new businesses. Yet only 0.24% of venture capital went to Black founders in the past decade. Here to address this racial funding divide is the first and only Black-led venture fund on the continent, Black Seed VC.
Founder Karl Lokko launched the fund after previously failing to raise “a penny” for his healthcare startup. Last year, he successfully raised the first £5m of a target £10m fund; an achievement that Lokko hopes will become less remarkable for Black founders in future.
Co-investment has been Black Seed’s route to success so far. Lokko has smartly partnered with NatWest to support over 10,000 Black entrepreneurs in the UK. That included hosting a startup weekend in Brixton, London, where entrepreneurs could pitch to win a £10,000 cash prize, as well as a number of workshops at Black Seed’s Brixton hub and online.
Alongside a fairer funding ecosystem, Black Seed’s mission statement to nurture the world’s “first Black Silicon Valley” has potential to aid in the UK’s economic recovery. It could also go far to fix the ethnicity pay gap by enabling Black founders to join the top income bracket.
Like all good entrepreneurs, Lokko sees the Black capital gap as first, an issue to overcome, and second, an opportunity to drive meaningful change. That’s what makes Black Seed a deserving winner for the 2025 Startups 100 DEI Award.
SHORTLISTED – PEEQUAL
Discriminatory practices often hide in plain sight. Nowhere is that more true than in the queue for women’s toilets. It’s a fact of life that, wherever you are — a gig, a football match, or a music festival — the line for the ladies will always be miles longer than the men’s.
But it doesn’t have to be. PEEQUAL is a new, eco-friendly urinal designed for those who use women’s toilets. Its ‘squat and go’ design means that six women can wee at once, without needing three mates with open jackets to shield them from view.
This is about potty parity, not proportionality. Biological differences mean that women often take longer in the loo. Yet, historically, washrooms have allocated equal floorspace to men and women. PEEQUAL cubicles are six times quicker to use than current designs, working to ensure that the average time spent waiting to use the toilet is the same for both sexes.
It’s not just the girlies who stand to benefit. Major organisers (Glastonbury, London Marathon, and WOMAD are all partners) have all leapt at the opportunity to satisfy more customers and maintain a smooth running time for their events.
PEEQUAL has raised £500,000 in funding and now has plans to expand to the Netherlands and Germany. It’s a pee-erfect nominee for the Startups 100 DEI Award.
SHORTLISTED – Bloom Money
Every culture has its own unique traditions around money. That can create issues for UK migrants, who may find themselves underserved by Western banks that lack culturally relevant financial services, such as money clubs.
Bloom Money is a new fintech that wants to simplify the process of setting up a money club (also known as an ajo, esusu, or pardna scheme) for British diaspora communities.
It’s an issue that needs solving. Money clubs are often used by cultures across the globe as an alternative to bank loans, such as to save for weddings. But with so many contributors, and without the proper technology, organisers can be at higher risk of scams or thefts.
Bloom Money’s purpose-built app is helping to bridge the gap. Available in 12 languages, it enables users to manage their money club from one app, creating a safer, easier way to support friends and family, rather than rely on workarounds from existing savings platforms.
Founder Nina Mohanty knows her audience well. She has also partnered with organisations like Filipino UK Nurses to build trust, and launched ‘Public Circles’; a feature that allows individuals without local connections to benefit from collective financial contributions.
By offering a safe, accessible, and culturally sensitive platform for collective savings, Bloom Money is addressing a significant gap in traditional banking. It’s a worthy nominee for the 2025 Startups 100 DEI Award, and we can’t wait to see the startup reach full bloom.
SHORTLISTED – Cashblack
The global anti-racism movement that began in 2020 has shone a light on unacknowledged inequalities in the UK. In the startup landscape, one of the most eye-opening is the specific financial challenges faced by Black owned-businesses. The result? After starting a business, Black leaders have an average turnover of £25,000, compared to £35,000 for White CEOs.
Cashblack is a purpose-led platform that is seeking to satisfy customers and help to close the racial wealth gap. More than just a play on words, the fintech offers cash back to members when they shop with Black-owned retailers, creating a mutually beneficial ecosystem where patrons feel incentivised to find, and shop from, melanated moguls.
So far, Cashback has partnerships with over 800 Black-owned businesses of varying sizes. These span creators on Ebay and Etsy, but also food vendors serving on Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats. Most impressively Amazon, the world’s largest online marketplace, is also a partner, and houses a platform for Black-owned retailers to showcase their products.
It’s not stopping there, though. In 2024, Cashblack launched Afrofiliate, an affiliate marketing programme which enables Black founders to reach new customers through influencer marketing, and create an army of brand advocates who identify with the Cashblack mission.
Cashblack is rewriting the rules of a game that has unfairly disadvantaged Black players for too long. Here’s a reward of its own: a nominee for the 2025 Startups 100 DEI Award.
Click below to discover the nominees and winners for our other Startups 100 awards:
🌎 Startups 100 Sustainability Award 2025
💝 Startups 100 Social Impact Award 2025
📣 Startups 100 Marketing Award 2025
