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🗞️Diversity and inclusion news🗞️ |
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👀BTF IS BACK👀
YEP you read that right. The biggest event of its type is back and the key date for your diary is 9 October 2025 back @ Drumsheds in London
Early bird tickets are available here |
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👀What is the state of play👀
In what has been a quieter week on the DEI front, we thought we'd take stock and share with you techcrunch's round up of what tech companies have said in relation to pulling back or not
Read more here |
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🧠Things that make you go hmmm🧠 |
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➡️Do not pass go➡️
In case you missed it between tariff tantrums and tech stock whiplash, Google just got told off—again—by a federal judge. This time? For running what the court called an “illegal monopoly” in online ad tech. Not search (that was last year)😅.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema sided with the Justice Department and a whole squad of state attorneys, ruling that Google built an illegal monopoly by dominating both sides of the online ad deal—selling the ad space and running the auction. It’s like hosting a game show where you're also the only contestant and somehow always win (Reverse Takeshi's castle anyone😅)
Specifically, Judge Brinkema said Google’s tight grip on both its publisher ad server (DFP) and its ad exchange (AdX) let it control prices and squeeze out competitors, while making sure publishers and advertisers had basically no other choice.
Oh, and this is the second time in a year Google’s been found to have broken antitrust law. Not exactly a glowing performance review from Uncle Sam🇺🇸
Of course, Google says it’s “disappointed” and plans to appeal—because well the consequences would be more than a fine if they didn't. They argue that publishers love their tools because they’re “efficient”.💻
The DOJ is definitely being bold as It’s pushing for structural changes—i.e. breaking up the ad business and potentially forcing google to divest of things like its Chrome browser.😱
💡 So What?
This ruling is less about dunking on Google and more about spotlighting how complex the digital economy has become—and the growing role regulators are playing in shaping it.
Yes, Google built a massive, integrated ad business that billions rely on. And yes, the court says that structure may have squeezed out competition. But the bigger picture here is a question we all should be asking: how do we balance innovation, scale, and fair competition in a world where tech infrastructure is increasingly owned by a few and lots of dollars are needed to innovate?
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🕺 Facebook’s Midlife Crisis: “What If We Just Deleted All Your Friends?”😅
Remember when Facebook was the place to be? Well if it makes you feel old, Gen Z doesn't😅.
Thanks to newly released emails from a 2022 antitrust case, we now have a peek inside Meta’s boardroom as they tried to figure out how to keep Facebook, well… culturally relevant. Spoiler: they weren’t sure either.👀
(TechCrunch)
In the emails, Zuckerberg floats the idea of completely wiping everyone’s friend list and starting fresh—because apparently nothing says “we get Gen Z” like nuking your social graph.
He also openly wondered whether Facebook’s whole vibe (you know, adding friends, liking baby photos, being publicly poked) was fundamentally out of touch in a TikTok world of “follow-first” feeds and algorithmic chaos. It’s giving ✨MySpace 2.0✨—but without the nostalgia.📲
There was even a plan to roll out a new “Friends” tab to try and win back some of that lost authenticity. It’s unclear if that ever made it out of the pitch deck🤔
Maybe they need to take a leaf out of Bebo's book and let us attach a song to our profile, or let us rank our friends like myspace to spice it up again🙃
💡 So What?
staying relevant in a culture that moves at algorithm speed is hard. Facebook isn’t dead—it’s just having an identity crisis in public and this one doesn't involve shaving off its hair. Given these things came out from 2022, let us know if you think whatever they decided made FB more relevant or not
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💰 Profit with Purpose💰
Who says purpose and profit don’t mix?
UK-based startup Marshmallow, one of the country’s only unicorns founded by a Black entrepreneurs, just raised $90 million at a $2 billion valuation💰
Even more interestingly? It did so by building car insurance for people the traditional industry ignores—like migrants, newcomers, and those priced out of the legacy system.
(TechCrunch)💸
Not bad for a business that started out insuring 100,000 people and now serves over a million drivers, with a pink billboard campaign that even your nan in Croydon may have seen🤓
At its core, Marshmallow is using data science and AI to rewrite the rulebook on risk and build fairer premiums. And while some insurtech peers (👀 WeFox) have floundered under inflated valuations and legacy business models, Marshmallow’s kept it lean, growing a profitable $500M run rate.🤑
Now, with fresh cash in the tank, they’re expanding into lending and home insurance—because helping people settle in the UK shouldn’t stop at car cover. Co-founder and CEO Oliver Kent-Braham says it best:
“We think of migration as a huge opportunity... we want to help people move and integrate into the U.K.” (Don't tell Kemi or Nigel anyone🤣)
💡 So What?
For the Colorintech community, this is the kind of story we love: tech used to dismantle bias, backed by a diverse founding team, and building a real business while doing it.
At a time when DEI is under attack across the pond, Marshmallow is quietly proving that inclusive leadership isn’t just morally right—it’s commercially savvy. Portage Capital, BlackRock, and other backers aren’t investing in vibes. They’re backing a scalable, resilient, and inclusive fintech.
We’ll just say it: More of this, please. |
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👩🏾⚕️AI Therapy: The Gen Z Coping Mechanism We Didn't See Coming👩🏾⚕️
In a world where NHS mental health services are stretched thin, young people are turning to an unexpected (for anyone that hasn't actually spoken to a young person) source for emotional support: AI chatbots.🤖
With waiting lists for therapy extending beyond 18 months, many are finding solace in conversations with AI companions like ChatGPT. These digital confidants offer immediate, judgment-free responses, providing a space for users to express their feelings without the fear of burdening friends or family.🤔
We've seen this before. Word on the street is that Duolingo found that folks were more happy to make language learning mistakes knowing they were talking to AI than a person🧐
🤖 The Chatbot Will See You Now
One user described how she started using ChatGPT not just to draft work emails, but to help navigate breakups, anxiety, and overwhelm. It’s not just her—16.7 million TikTok posts and counting are talking about AI as a therapist. Headspace even launched its own AI companion📲
And to be fair, the chatbot’s responses? Kinda gentle. A bit “you’ve got this, bestie” meets bullet journal coach. A study even showed people sometimes preferred ChatGPT’s answers to real therapists’. Oof (Confirmation bias anyone)👀
🧯 But Not Everyone’s Convinced
Therapists warn that chatting with AI can fuel self-obsession or become a crutch—because you’re still in control of the conversation, and there’s no real relationship or challenge. As one expert put it:
“Most of our hurts occur in relationship. They can only be repaired in relationship.”
Also, let’s not forget the data privacy minefield. Your trauma isn’t exactly covered by GDPR when you’re handing it to a chatbot trained on the internet.🤔
💡 So What?
AI can play a role in closing the accessibility gap—but can it replace human connection. That said, the fact young people are hacking together emotional support systems out of LLMs shows just how wide the support gap is. People are often told not to use the internet for their own Medical research but the truth is people are doing so in volumes so large, King Canute approach may not work.
Maybe it’s time for policymakers and platform builders alike to ask: if AI is becoming the therapist, who’s responsible for the outcome? |
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📈 The tools behind the tech📉
📦Product📦
📏Design📏
👩🏿💻Code👩🏿💻
🏢The business behind the tech🏢
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🌐Partner Events & Opportunties 🌐 |
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An editorial shout out to Samara
Following last week's discussion on economic pressures and the looming reality of increased supply chain costs – potentially squeezing corporate profits or driving up prices and dampening sales – this week, we're spotlighting a company offering a tech-driven solution and one of our partners: Samsara.
Samsara has built a platform powered by 14 trillion data points specifically designed to improve the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of operations that power the global economy.
As a result, their tech is able to leverage real-time insights to identify inefficiencies, predict potential disruptions, and gain visibility across complex operations, and what does that do? Lower costs. In an environment where everyone is counting their pennies, Samsara's tech offers organisations a platform to protect their bottom line and mitigate increased prices for consumers.
But who Are Samsara? well its a scale up turned big dwag. 22bn Market cap, Offices across 10 countries and 3,500 + number of employees
Now why is this of interest, well for us techies, Samsara presents an interesting opportunity: to actually apply cutting-edge technologies to solve critical real-world economic challenges. Ultimately its safe tech, (Yep we'll coin the term).
We've done some great work with the Samsara team over the years so genuinely recommend checking out, 1 the pics of those moments (Yes get the FOMO) and 2 some of their open roles: https://www.samsara.com/company/careers/roles?locations=Remote+-+UK&locations=London,+UK&gh_src=676b3d5d1us
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Roles at ARM
Staff Firmware Engineer
Arm Neoverse is the foundation for the next era of digital infrastructure. This role provides an outstanding opportunity to develop and contribute to the success of Arm Neoverse CSS based solutions.
Edge AI Ecosystem Lead
Arm has revolutionised multiple industries and is now defining the future of AI on edge computing. The IoT Line of Business is rapidly moving inference from being a cloud centric compute, to a distributed local computing experience with all the benefits of reduced latency, privacy and cost this change will deliver.
AI System Architect
This is an opportunity for an experienced application developer to have broader impact, significantly influencing an AI platform that is used by billions of people every day, in every major cloud and the vast majority of smartphones.
Community Coordinator (12 Month FTC)This role will support the Software Communities organisation. The ideal candidate will bring strong detail oriented, execution and organisational skills to help drive the impact of Arm in the Software community.
Deskside Support EngineerThe deskside engineering team is responsible for all support requests that cannot be fulfilled by our service desk or remote support teams, from new user device orientation to support of sophisticated desktop issues. This includes covering our Cambridge Office Tech Hub on a rota basis.
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🎓Our latest partnership🎓
Colorintech is excited to announce its new partnership with the Government Digital Service (GDS), the leaders of the Government Digital and Data profession in the UK government. GDS plays a vital role in transforming public services, setting digital strategy, and ensuring services are user-centred, efficient, and accessible to all.
This partnership aligns with the UK government’s Blueprint for Modern Digital Government, which sets out a vision for a more connected, innovative, and resilient digital public sector. By working together, Colortech and GDS will focus on building a diverse and highly skilled digital workforce, ensuring that government services are shaped by talent that reflects the communities they serve.
Roles to check out
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🙌🏾Our next event for founders🙌🏾
On April 24th, Colorintech is hosting a founders focused event all about investment insights with Atomico, where experts will answer questions like:
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What are the different types of investment available, and what are the key trends?
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What should founders planning a raise be preparing for (including understanding investor/investee relationships)?
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Is investment even the right choice or is there another way?
AND we'll have dedicated time for Q&A with our outstanding speakers:
This event is a great opportunity for founders who are fundraising or are considering fundraising in the near future, particularly at pre-seed to seed stage.
Check out the key details below:
Date: 24th April
Time: 18:30 - 21:30
Where: Atomico - London Offices
Sign Up Link: https://lu.ma/investment-insights
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👀Ada Hackathon👀
Date:
Friday 2nd May 2025 from 9:00 am check in, 10:00 am start to 5:30 pm end
Location:
Central London near Tottenham Court Road Station
Applications open:
Monday 14th April to Friday 25th April
Ada Ventures is investing £100,000 in the winning team
Apply here
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🙌🏾The latest from the Colorintech team🙌🏾 |
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😃What we are consuming😃
📺To mark International Women's Day 2025, Dutch online retailer bol flipped the script by having male colleagues answer questions that their female counterparts have faced in their careers, such as, "Have you ever been asked to just smile and look pretty in a meeting with a customer?" Watch the video. <<
Shout out to Caroline Berns
🤖Robot Pets aren't a novelty
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