We’ve have nothing but respect for this power woman, founder and CEO of renewable energy tech startup Uncharted Play, Jessica O. Matthews. Her company just closed a $7 million Series A round funding led by the NIC Fund with participation from Kapor Capital, Magic Johnson Enterprises, BBG Ventures and Lingo Ventures.
As a result of this deal, Matthews has become the 13th black female founder to raise more than $1 million from outside investment. This feat is worthy of note because black women who received outside funding only received an average of $36,000,
Uncharted Play’s first product, SOCCKET, is a soccer ball that doubles as a power generator. The SOCCKET uses the rotational energy that gets generated every time the ball rolls to produce three hours of light for every hour of play.
According to Jessica, the aim of her company is “not only to disrupt how energy is generated, but how it is consumed. We envision a world where people shift from a ‘hoard & save’ energy mentality to a ‘continuous and on-demand’ energy experience.”
In 2014, Jessica was mentioned on the annual Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and in 2013 she was named Innovator of the Year by Black Enterprise. She is extremely proud of the team she has built; a team that believes in her vision and trusts in her ability to make it a reality.
Jessica has spent her entire professional career going against the flow and we can’t wait for what she does next.
