Claris International Inc., the creator of the world’s leading low-code development platform, announced a new entrepreneur training initiative with Venture Fund and Startup Studio, EonXI, seeking to address the lack of diversity in technology. The training program combines the power of low-code software development with entrepreneur training, mentorship, and community networking that will serve to expand diversity in technology and business ownership.
“The need to invest and increase diversity in tech broadly, and in Black entrepreneurs specifically, has never been greater,” said Claris CEO Brad Freitag. “At the same time, the massive growth and tremendous power of low-code technologies represent some of the most significant opportunities to close this gap that we’ve seen in generations. This partnership with EonXI affirms a deep commitment on the part of both companies to not just talk about or study these problems, but to give Black entrepreneurs what they need to be successful, both as business owners and software developers.”
The training of Black entrepreneurs and people of color was prompted by disappointing studies about diversity in technology and Black business ownership that was cited in the press announcement.
Pew Research revealed that:
- While Black workers comprise 11% of all employed adults, they are just 5% of engineers and architects, and 7% of workers in computer occupations, and
- Entrepreneurship within the Black community was hit particularly hard by the pandemic with 40% of black-owned businesses closing due to the pandemic versus 20% of all active U.S. businesses.
A McKinsey study indicated that 42% of employed Black workers have jobs that could be subject to automation by the end of the decade.
However, a Gartner study on the current talent shortage in technology offered Claris and EonXI an actionable path to achieve greater diversity in the tech workforce based on two factors. Gartner forecasts that within the next three years 75% of large enterprises will be using at least four low-code development tools for IT application development. Yet, while there is growing demand for low code development skills, current open IT positions far exceed the number of computer science graduates entering the workforce.
Currently, there are approximately 500,000 open IT positions, but only 50,000 computer science students are graduating each year. Claris and EonXI saw this tremendous gap as an opportunity to create and build a more diverse workforce—specifically by training Black entrepreneurs in the area of low code development.
“Narrowing the racial wealth gap starts with access to technology and resources, hence why we are building communities of diverse developers and diverse entrepreneurs,” said Aaron Wilson, General Partner at EonXI.
With EonXI and Claris partnering to offer entrepreneurial training via the Low Code Accelerator program, graduates will obtain operational expertise and mentorship to form and scale businesses, while also receiving technical training on the Claris low-code development platform. Program partners include Cris Ippolite, a 25-year Claris developer and President of iSolutions and Cathy House, a 15-year entrepreneurship Adjunct Professor in the Executive MBA program at Howard University.
“Every day, I work with brilliant Black entrepreneurs who have industry-changing ideas, but no technical training to bring those ideas to life through software,” said Cathy House. “While we must invest in closing the educational gaps that led us to this point, I see tremendous opportunity in low-code software development to empower these entrepreneurs today”.
Those accepted for entrepreneur training and code development gain an experience that will lead them to more opportunities in their career and in their entrepreneurial pursuits. The EonXI Startup Studio has a key role in their training to be future entrepreneurs, as it is the incubation engine of EonXI. The Studio is where concepts are created, developed, and scaled into disruptive businesses in the Web 3.0 ecosystem.
The EonXI Studio team gets fully behind any entrepreneur whose idea has a strong product market fit. They activate their network of fellow founders, influencers, advisors, investors, and talent that then support founding teams throughout the life of the business.
In addition, those in training will be exposed to the workings and venture capital resources of EonXI. The firm has an extensive limited partner network comprised of highly accomplished executives, family offices, and top-tier influencers and strategic partners that provide timely support to entrepreneurs.
Those seeking both entrepreneur training and technical skill development in low-code software have until October 15, 2021 to apply for The Low Code Accelerator program by visiting the Claris website.
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