Google has announced the 20 recipients of the company’s Google for Startups Founders Funds, including its fifth Black Founders Fund and third Latino Founders Fund. According to a press, released for the first time since the funds’ inception, all of the fund’s recipients are AI-powered or AI-augmented companies.

The funds will award each selected founder with $150,000 in non-dilutive cash awards and $100,000 in Google Cloud credits to help expand their businesses. Plus, recipients will also get access to mental health resources and mentorship from Google experts in AI and sales. The selected businesses all use AI to help improve business and societal challenges, including using AI to prevent wildfires, divert fast fashion from landfills, help millions of community college students transfer to four-year-colleges, and more.

“AI can enable startups to build transformative products and solve complex challenges, but founders need access to capital to realize this potential,” Maya Kulycky, vice president of strategy and operations at Google Research, said in a statement. “Through the Google for Startups Founders Funds, we are proud to invest in promising Black and Latino founders who are leveraging AI technology to help address some of today’s most pressing issues. We are inspired by the groundbreaking work of these founders and their potential to shape the future of AI.”

Some of this year’s recipients include: Akeptus, a company that provides smart home energy management system to help homeowners optimize their energy usage and reduce costs; Beta Financial Services, which aims to remove human bias from deposit and lending services; Bountiful, an agricultural tech company that supports farmers in better understanding their crop production and its impact in the field; Cambio AI, a software provider that helps commercial landlords and corporate tenants decarbonize their facilities; and EdVisorly, a student recruiting platform that helps community college students pursue their higher education.

“The Google for Startups Founders Fund is a catalyst for innovation at Akeptus. With this support, we’ll refine our pioneering technology, expand our reach into new markets, and accelerate our commitment to energy efficiency,” Nana Wilberforce, co-founder and CEO of Akeptus, said in a statement. “It’s about setting a new paradigm in energy intelligence — empowering communities with real-time, actionable insights to drive savings and build a smarter, sustainable future for all.”

Google’s Black Founders Fund and Latino Founders Fund aim to level the playing field for overlooked Black and Latino entrepreneurs, who often are not afforded the same business opportunities as their white counterparts. Since 2020, these funds have provided Black and Latino founders around the world with more than $50 million, and participating founders have raised over $590 million in subsequent funding. 

The full list of the startup cohort is listed below:

The 2024 Google for Startups cohort includes the following companies:

• Akeptus (Glenwood, MD) provides a smart home energy management system that helps homeowners optimize their energy usage and reduce costs.
• Beta Financial Services(Chicago, IL) aims to remove human bias from deposit and lending services
• Bountiful (San Francisco, CA) is an agricultural tech company that helps farmers understand what impacts crop production in the field and at scale. 
• Cambio AI (New York, NY) provides software that enables commercial landlords and corporate tenants to reach their net zero goals by decarbonizing their facilities.
• EdVisorly (Los Angeles, CA) is a student recruiting platform boosting community college to university student transfer success. 
• Elis (Pound Ridge, NY) uses AI to transform raw interview data into deeper insights than a survey and more quickly than an in-person interview, enabling businesses with customer behavior to make more informed decisions. 
• Hacware (Frisco, TX) is an AI—driven email security awareness platform that helps  IT teams combat phishing attacks through experiential learning.
• Hire Henry (St Louis, MO) develops industrial robotic mowers for large greenspaces.
• Hue (Boston, MA) is a SaaS platform that sources and integrates authentic video reviews on e-commerce brands’ websites and marketing channels.
• Improving Aviation (Tampa, FL) is a consulting services company that provides superior engineering and technical services in air transportation systems.
• InOrbit, Inc. (Mountain VIew, CA) is a cloud-based robot management platform to help robotics developers and operators scale their robot fleets.
• JustAir Solutions (Detroit, MI) provides local air pollution monitoring solutions and transparency into the disparities of air quality among communities. 
• Maverick (San Francisco, CA) is an AI-generated video platform designed to help ecommerce stores create personalized experiences for each of their customers across the user journey. 
• Pagedip (Boulder, CO) is a no-code content publishing app that gives teams the ability to do more and know more than ever before with their content.
• Raincoat (San Juan, PR) is developing the next generation of climate insurance at scale using parametric triggers, with the purpose of delivering climate protection and resilience for everyone.
• Sensagrate (Scottsdale, AZ) uses AI to improve travel safety and times in urban areas by improving traffic flow, reducing traffic, and decreasing fatalities.
• Sortile (New York, NY) is a textile waste management system leveraging AI to enable the identification, traceability and recycling of textiles.
• TackleAI (Schaumburg, IL) provides workflow automation on large amounts of documents and datasets, increasing speed and efficiency while decreasing the chance of human error.
• Trustible (Arlington, VA) is an AI governance management platform that assists organizations in defining necessary AI policies, implementing and enforcing responsible AI practices. 
• Waterplan (San Francisco, CA) is a corporate water sustainability platform to help organizations measure, respond, and report water risk.