Since its launch, the Talent x Opportunity Initiative (TxO) has been more than a funding vehicle; it’s been a launchpad for culturally inspired innovation and a community of support for under-networked founders. Like the startups in our portfolio, TxO is constantly evolving to ensure we’re meeting the needs of our founders.
While funding is just a small part of the value we aim to provide our founders, we’re thrilled to share today that we’re dialing up our investment in the Spring 2024 and subsequent cohorts to $175,000 per team, up from $100,000.
With that said, we are proud to announce TxO’s Spring 2024 cohort. This latest group of founders is boldly tackling big challenges ranging from upleveling key career skills to addressing loneliness through easy connectivity. Please join us in welcoming the newest TxO founders:
Vanessa Karel (Greether)
Vanessa Karel was born in Los Angeles, California, but spent her formative years in Mexico. She returned to the U.S. for college and earned a degree in advertising and photography, which led to her starting a production agency that worked with companies like Intercontinental Hotels, AT&T, and The North Face. As an avid traveler, Vanessa identified a gap in safety for solo female travelers, especially after a challenging experience in Morocco during the pandemic. This realization led to Greether, a platform that ensures safety and provides income opportunities for female travelers worldwide.
Luis Caballero and Sung Choi (Muse)
Luis Caballero, born in Oklahoma City, acquired a diverse set of self-taught skills at an early age, including music production, website development, and social media growth. He leveraged these skills to fund his computer science studies at the University of Oklahoma, where he would eventually meet his cofounder, Sung Choi. Originally from South Korea, Sung moved to the U.S. in second grade and always had a passion for programming and making products, which persisted into his college years and led to the decision to collaborate with Luis. Together, they founded Muse, a collaboration platform for music creators designed to simplify the process of producing, recording, and sharing ideas in real time.
Andrew Florial, Cameron Farzaneh and Jeechieu Ta (Outing)
Andrew Florial was born in Haiti and grew up in Florida. An award-winning science project sparked his entrepreneurial spirit in his early teens, leading him to study Computer Science and Applied Mathematics in college. Jeechieu Ta, a first-generation Asian-American, and Cameron Farzaneh, a fellow first-generation American of Iranian descent, also pursued Computer Science at university. Like Andrew, they took engineering stints at large organizations but ultimately aspired to launch their own products. The trio eventually joined forces to found Outing, a social marketplace where users can discover, book, and plan group outings.
Samerial Johns (Pug.ai)
Samerial Johns, a Maryland native, is the daughter of refugees who fled war-torn Liberia. Once in the U.S., her parents turned to entrepreneurship out of necessity, fueling Sammie’s desire to forge her own path. During college, she leveraged free online resources to acquire new, in-demand skills, eventually securing full-time positions at large technology companies. This experience inspired her to create Pug.ai, a career management software that utilizes AI tools and digital humans to assist individuals in upskilling and landing career opportunities.
Joel Horsford (RadEmploy)
Joel Horsford, a native New Yorker, has over ten years of expertise in radiology. His career began in advertising, but the 2008 recession prompted him to shift to radiology. Dedicated to enhancing communication within the medical imaging field, Joel initiated virtual fireside chats during the pandemic to foster connections among imaging professionals. He also realized there was a recurring staffing challenge within the radiology sector. This insight inspired him to found RadEmploy, a digital platform to bridge the gap between medical imaging professionals and job opportunities.
Mical Jeanlys-White (WealthMore)
Mical Jeanlys-White, a first-generation American from Brooklyn, was inspired early by her grandmother—a diligent saver whom traditional financial institutions overlooked because of her background as a non-English speaking Haitian immigrant widow. This experience sparked Mical’s understanding of the importance of financial planning and saving, leading to her over two-decade career in financial services at institutions like JPMorgan Chase, American Express, and Accenture. Driven to bridge the wealth divide, she founded WealthMore to make expert financial advisors affordable for all.
“Andreessen Horowitz is a private American venture capital firm, founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. The company is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. As of April 2023, Andreessen Horowitz ranks first on the list of venture capital firms by AUM.”
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