That's it (ex-Avostart), the start-up that offers legal support to European employees as a new social advantage, is a winner of Google’s Black Founders Fund investment program.
Pioneer in the digitalization of daily access to law (information, advice, support and representation), Ekie is the first legal support service or “Legal Care” in Europe. Thanks to its application, Ekie allows employers to provide their employees and their families with the tools and services necessary to manage all legal matters, administrative and tax issues that punctuate their daily lives and increase their mental load at work. Ekie has been supported since 2021 by the OneRagtime investment fund (ORT) and by BNP Paribas Développement. 50,000 employees, employees and their families already benefit from Ekie’s legal support service in more than 100 companies of all sizes (including L’Oréal, LVMH, LinkedIn, PayFit, Ardian…). Co-founder and director of Ekie, Raphaël Jabol benefited in Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis), where he grew up, of the Priority Education Convention of Sciences Po Paris, from which he graduated. Raphaël also graduated from Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, USA). Before founding Ekie, he worked in the marketing department of the L’Oréal group in the USA, in Brazil and France.
Le Black Founders Fund : a fund for black entrepreneurs
Quant à « Black Founders Fund », this is Google's initiative to financially support start-ups founded by black entrepreneurs around the world. In 2022, Google invests four million dollars in 40 start-ups in Europe. Ekie will benefit from this financial support. Google starts from the observation that black entrepreneurs do not have access like other entrepreneurs to the networks and capital necessary for the growth of their businesses : in 2020, less than 0,5% of venture capital funding went to start-ups led by black entrepreneurs. Since, Google deployed $20 million to fund black entrepreneurs in the United States, and Europe, in Africa and Brazil. In two years, program startups raised $81 million in funding, hired over 100 additional employees and increased revenue by over 81%.
“A recognition of my journey”
Ekie receives $200,000 from the Google Black Founders Fund in Google services (online advertising, cloud hosting…), as well as six months of support from Google network experts. The French start-up also benefits from privileged access to the best investment funds. (VC) and Europe. “We are honored to benefit from Google's support through the Google Black Founders Fund Europe program. It is a double recognition, both of course for my career and the many professionals who opened doors for me, but above all for our company. That the world leader in technology believes in our project, it’s an encouraging sign and a mark of confidence for the whole team”, welcomes Raphaël Jabol.
