In its sixth year, the program offers underrepresented entrepreneurs access to Braze products, mentorship, and a path to sustainable growth

The company will partner with Coursera to create a more equitable path for underrepresented founders in tech

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Braze , the leading customer engagement platform that empowers brands to Be Absolutely Engaging™, today announced that applications are now open for the sixth cohort of its Tech for an Equitable Future product grant program. The program will offer 10 underrepresented founders and their companies with 12 months of free access to Braze technology and supporting resources to enable them to grow their business, worth tens of thousands of dollars in annualized product value and onboarding services for each company. Applications are being accepted for the program now through January 16th, 2026.

Since 2020, Tech for an Equitable Future has provided product grants and supporting services to more than 60 founders. By providing vital resources at an early stage of development, Braze is making it possible for growing businesses to expand their customer base, and in turn, give underrepresented founders a better chance of building sustainable success.

"Early-stage founders often face barriers like limited resources and funding that can distract from what matters most—growing their businesses,” said Rod McLeod, VP of Social Impact at Braze. “As we enter the sixth year of this program, Braze is proud to continue investing in initiatives that fuel entrepreneurship and strengthen the communities we serve.”

“The Tech for an Equitable Future program provided us with the tools we needed to bring our vision to life – cultivating a community rooted in shared love for Black-owned restaurants and businesses,” said Anthony Edwards, co-founder, CEO & CTO of EatOkra, an app that connects customers with Black-owned restaurants. “With access to the Braze platform, we were able to reach a broader audience and send our community to thousands of Black-owned restaurants across the nation in line with our company’s mission. Our ability to grow with this program is a true testament to Braze and how the company has created value for both of our businesses.”

Last year Braze launched its first Tech for an Equitable Future customer partnership with premium streaming service BET+. By contributing one-on-one mentorship to select companies, a branding masterclass, and free email advertising, BET+ has helped participating founders sharpen their storytelling and expand their reach. This year, Coursera has joined as Braze’s second customer partnership. Coursera will provide mentorship to select companies on how to use Braze, cross-channel sessions, and discounted access to more than 10,000 courses and professional certificates to upskill those selected companies. These collaborations demonstrate how Braze and its customer community can come together to remove barriers, provide real-world expertise, and create a more equitable path for underrepresented founders in tech.

Grant Application Requirements and Features

To be eligible for the grant program, applicants must meet all of the following criteria:

Businesses with underrepresented founders, including Black and women founders

Businesses located in APAC, EMEA, or North America

Businesses with fewer than 100 employees

Businesses with less than $30M in venture funding, an established product, and growing customer base

Businesses with compatible SDK and appropriate Engineering and Marketing resources

Braze offers technology that powers personalization at scale, helping users to capture, analyze and act on data to create relevant and meaningful experiences for their customers. For the 10 businesses selected to participate, the program will offer:

A free Braze Go package for 12 months, which includes platform access, unlimited push notifications, in-app/in-brower messaging for up to 75,000 monthly active users, 500,000 Message Credits, and more.

Onboarding services and over 25 hours of educational content to get you up and running

A dedicated Customer Success Manager in Year 1

Access to free Braze certifications

Access to digital community spaces to network with fellow founders in the program

And the opportunity to renew at discounted rates

Learn more about eligibility and apply here.

About Braze

Braze is the leading customer engagement platform that empowers brands to Be Absolutely Engaging.™ Braze helps brands deliver great customer experiences that drive value both for consumers and for their businesses. Built on a foundation of composable intelligence, BrazeAI™ allows marketers to combine and activate AI agents, models, and features at every touchpoint throughout the Braze Customer Engagement Platform for smarter, faster, and more meaningful customer engagement. From cross-channel messaging and journey orchestration to Al-powered decisioning and optimization, Braze enables companies to turn action into interaction through autonomous, 1:1 personalized experiences. The company has repeatedly been recognized as a Leader in marketing technology by industry analysts, and was voted a G2 “Best of Marketing and Digital Advertising Software Product” in 2025. Braze was also named a 2025 Best Companies To Work For by U.S. News & World Report, a 2025 America’s Greatest Companies by Newsweek, and a 2025 Fortune Best Workplace in Technology™ by Great Place To Work®. The company is headquartered in New York with 15 offices across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. Learn more at braze.com.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated benefits from Braze, its products and programs, including its Tech for an Equitable Future product grant program. These forward-looking statements are based on the current assumptions, expectations and beliefs of Braze, and are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Further information on potential factors that could affect Braze results are included in Braze’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2025, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on September 5, 2025, and the other public filings of Braze with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the views of Braze only as of the date of this press release, and Braze assumes no obligation, and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

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Source: Braze