3 projects with Tallahassee ties awarded grants through Pharrell Williams's Black Ambition

Starting at Florida A&M University with little knowledge of how to meet people or find social activities was intimidating for Miramar native Zachary Gilchrist. As a result, he often found himself with a bad case of ‘FOMO,’ or the fear of missing out.

Inspired by his own college experience and wanting to keep students in the know about social events, Gilchrist resorted to his skills in technology to create The Move app, which helps students find out what parties are going on around them and it includes social features like chats to keep students interactive. It is available in Apple and Google Play stores.

“For The Move, I see it as the next big social media platform,” Gilchrist told the Tallahassee Democrat. “I think of it as the world’s first real social media app.”

With 3,000 downloads in Tallahassee and about 70 featured events since its launch more than a year and a half ago, Gilchrist’s ambitious vision has a few more downloads to go – but it’s getting noticed in a big way.

Earlier this month, Gilchrist was awarded $200,000 for creating The Move app, which was the top finalist for the HBCU prize from Black Ambition. 

Background: FAMU, HBCUs endorse Pharrell Williams’ multimillion dollar quest to uplift new entrepreneurs

Black Ambition supports Black and Latino and Latina entrepreneurs with a series of prizes to underwrite strong ideas. It was founded by music artist and philanthropist Pharrell Williams, whose No. 1 hit ‘Happy’ made him a household name. Black Ambition’s pitch competition is critical for applicants who undergo three months of inspection and interviews with partnered entrepreneurs and senior business leaders.

“We received applications from more than 2,000 Black and Latinx entrepreneurs across the country, and we funded 31 of the top applicants,” Jermeen Sherman, managing director of programs and operations for Black Ambition, told the Democrat.

Interesting enough, of the 31 funded applicants, three have ties to Tallahassee – via Florida A&M and Florida State universities.

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“They vetted out businesses based on how much projected revenue they can make and basically the effectiveness of it,” Gilchrist said of the pitch competition’s judging held Nov. 1-3 in Norfolk, Virginia.

“The whole process was really educational,” said Gilchrist, a senior computer science student. “They really coached us on how to be a good CEO and how to run your business.”

Gilchrist was advised on ways to make money from ad placements on The Move app. Now, promoters can pay to advertise events in priority placement at the top of the events page on the app.

Attendees networked with executives from notable companies like Goldman Sachs and Chegg and were paired with a business leader for coaching and mentorship. Gilchrist was mentored by TEDx speaker John Guydon.

“Even though the $200,000 was just the prize money we also made a lot of other connections that could end up being more money in the future,” the budding entrepreneur said.

According to Gilchrist, The Move app was funded by an initial investment of $20,000 from his close friend back in June.  With the prize money, Gilchrist plans to add new features like detailed safety alerts for venues that have reached maximum capacity and alerts for dangers. For instance, an alert could be issued for gun violence or fighting in progress.

“I have the money now to hire more developers,” Gilchrist said of his budget plan..

Initially, the tech savvy 23-year-old started at FAMU majoring in electrical engineering but recently changed to computer science to pursue his passion. The self-taught mobile app creator and web developer now owns and operates a software agency, the Market Techs and another application that is on hold called Safe Buddy.

The Move app was designed to be a cheaper, social alternative to Eventbrite, a national event and ticketing management software with over 700,000 downloads.

“My goal for The Move is to really have people connected,” the creator said. “With apps like Facebook and Instagram, you’re posting and commenting and liking but you’re not really interacting with people.”

FSU graduates take $50,000 prize

Two years ago, FSU students Armon’da Davis and Nicki Ekhomu co-created a device they named EQ1. It is an all-inclusive physical therapy device designed to be more convenient and accessible than conventional physical therapy devices. The two, who have since graduated from FSU, earned $50,000 during the Black Ambition competition.

According to Sherman, The Move and Equalizer were winning contenders based on “demonstration traction, scalability and the strength of the founders and their team members.”

“It was very motivating to see that a lot of Black entrepreneurs were there too,” Armon’da Davis told the Democrat.

Davis said the device, which is waiting for FDA approval, has already been tested with a few NFL teams and NCAA basketball teams, including the FSU’s women’s basketball team. Ekhomu played on FSU’s women’s basketball team from 2016 to 2021 as a First Team All-ACC player and All-American and served as team captain.

Davis and Ekhomu were motivated to create the device based on their athletics backgrounds and experience with other student athletes who struggled with finding convenient physical therapy methods.

“We saw problems when it comes to athletes and physical therapy and recovery, so we want to provide more accessible and affordable devices,” said Davis, who graduated in 2019 with a degree in sports management and marketing.

Tech platform co-created by FAMU SBI student earns $15,000

Cocoa Diaries, a platform with resources and tools for Black collegiate women won $15,000 from Black Ambition. The five founders are a band of childhood best friends, one of which is Regan Nesbit, a FAMU business administration student.

“Our mission is to be the No. 1 resource for Black women in college,” the 23-year-old said of the platform that launched in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cocoa Diaries provides information on scholarships and highlights businesses and philanthropic initiatives for Black women. They plan to add upgrades to their site to make it more accessible and developmental.

“With the Black Ambition money our goal is to turn Cocoa Diaries into a virtual hub,” Nesbit, an Atlanta, Georgia native, said. “Regardless of if we won money or not, we knew we would get something out of it.”

Contact Democrat writer Alaijah Brown at ABrown1@gannett.com and on Twitter at @BrownAlaijah. 

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Pharrell Williams taps into FAMU, FSU talent with Black Ambition grants