DURHAM — Six startups from North Carolina were selected to participate in this year’s fifth annual Google for Startups Black Founders Exchange.

Among them: SpokeHub, CourtRoom5, LoanWell, Coworks, Freeman Capital and KWHCoin and Genesis Block.

Slated for Oct. 7-29, the event will be virtual and focus on alumni founders from the past four years tackling some of the most pressing issues of the day.

“Over the last four years, the Black Founders Exchange program has seen the alumni achieve inspiring growth and success”, says Jewel Burks Solomon, Head of Google for Startups US.

“Going into our 5th year, we knew that doubling down on our support for this group would give us the opportunity to bring the very best of Google’s people and resources to further advance these companies, and demonstrate our firm commitment to the Black founder community. American Underground shares this same mission, and we’re proud to partner with them our 5th annual Black Founders Exchange program.”

A collaboration between Google for Startups and the American Underground (AU) startup hub, Black Founders Exchange (BFE) is an immersion program based in Durham, North Carolina for Black founders in the startup community.

The program provides hands-on mentorship and support from industry experts and investors across the country. As of 2020, the 32 companies that have completed the program have collectively raised more than $23 million. The roster of 2020’s participating companies is here.

This year, top technical and business experts, like Allan Thygesen, Google’s President of Americas, and Jewel Burks Solomon, Head of Google for Startups US, co-founder of Partpic, are expected to attend.

Additional speakers will include Tony Wilkins (Google for Startups’ Investor in Residence), and Sarah Morgan, a longtime HR executive and Chief Excellence Officer of Triangle-based BuzzARooney LLC.

“As the American Underground celebrates its tenth anniversary, we are particularly proud of our partnership with Google for Startups on Black Founders Exchange and the inspiring founders who have participated,” says Adam Klein, AU’s chief strategist.

“Across the years, AU set the clear goal of building our country’s most diverse tech hub with a central focus on diversity and inclusivity. Society clearly still has much to do on that front, and BFE will continue to be part of that work.”