Black-Owned Social Media App Selected For TechStars Accelerator Program

Move over, Elon! There’s a new social media platform ready to take over.

Inpathy is a Black-owned social media platform that aims “to inspire transparency, normalize moods, and recreate the human experience.” Now with the help of J.P. Morgan, the platform will receive the tools to expand.

Inpathy has been accepted into the Detroit Techstars accelerator program, designed to recruit and provide equitable access, funding, and support for Black and people of color entrepreneurs. During the 12-week program, the app, founded by power couple Ziarekenya and Kathryn Smith, will get assistance to level up and will end with investor previews and a Demo day.

Ziarekenya Smith made the announcement via Facebook.

Launched in September 2022, Techstars “invested in more than 3,300 early-stage startups,” according to Detroit Free Press. Out of hundreds of applications and an acceptance rate of less than 4%, Inpathy is one of 12 startups accepted, globally.

“Detroit is part of the 9-city initiative J.P. Morgan invested $80 million into creating opportunities for wealth creation among a diversified range of founders, often constrained by institutional, structural, and systemic barriers,” read a statement released by J.P. Morgan.

While Smith says he’s looking to land “the right investors,” it’s more than just about the money for him. “One of the things I am most looking forward to gaining from Techstars is the opportunity to form meaningful relationships with the other founders in our cohort,” Smith said. “Being part of a community of like-minded individuals with similar values and goals can be incredibly empowering.”

Highlighted in BLACK ENTERPRISE last year, the purpose of Inpathy is to help people find balance in their busy lives. Smith said the idea came to mind “because we need to create a more enjoyable, balanced, human-centered, and transparent platform.”

“You can wake up feeling ehh, then in the middle of the day feeling good; might feel kind of down, then partying in the evening. And that’s the human experience. You go up and down. We are very colorful as human beings with a range of emotions.”