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Made with Black Culture
Techstars '23Los Angeles, US · Founded 2021 · 1 employees on LinkedIn · 1 known investors
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A historical research and data documentation project that catalogs patents and inventions by Foundational Black Americans from 1776 to 2026, quantifying their economic and cultural value. The platform aggregates historical patent records, geographic data, and economic valuations to document 250 years of uncredited innovation.
Also known as MWBC
Investors · 1
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · Not right? Tell us
Company profile
researched Sep 2026Made with Black Culture (MWBC) operates a public data project, branded "America at 250: Who Built It," that compiles and publishes records of inventions and patents attributed to Foundational Black Americans across the 1776–2026 span of US history. Its first published segment, described as "Chapter One," covers what the company calls the Golden Era of Black invention, 1870 to 1940, and reports roughly 50,000 confirmed patents, a 2.7% share of all US patents in that window, and a peak decade of the 1900s with 9,400 confirmed records. The site cites ICPSR Study 109970 as an underlying data source and presents decade-level breakdowns beginning with the 1870s (~3,200 patents), 1880s (~5,800) and 1890s (~7,200), alongside geographic findings such as an eight-fold North/South patenting gap and approximately 64% of records linked to counties.
The project also assigns monetary estimates to uncredited innovation. It reports $293 trillion in "Lost Commercial Value" calculated through what it calls an LCV Engine, structured in three layers covering royalty, wealth and derivative effects, and publishes per-inventor estimates such as $12.4B for Charles Drew's blood bank system, $8.1B for Lewis Latimer, $6.7B for Garrett Morgan, $5.9B for Jan Matzeliger, $4.2B for Elijah McCoy and $2.3B for Granville T. Woods. Records are organized into innovation sectors including manufacturing (8,400+), transportation (7,200+), electrical systems (6,800+), medicine and health (5,100+), agriculture (4,900+), construction (4,400+), communication (3,800+) and chemistry and materials (3,400+).
User-facing products include a browsable interface referred to as the Patent Terminal or BLK:INV terminal, which surfaces inventor records, patent records and county-linked data, plus a live annotation feature that allows visitors to add research commentary on individual patents.
Business model
The company publishes an open, web-based research dataset and terminal interface built on aggregated historical patent, inventor and county-level records, with a valuation methodology (the LCV Engine) layered on top. Public materials do not describe pricing or paid offerings.
Traction
The site reports 1.3M+ inventor records, approximately 50,000 confirmed patents for the 1870–1940 period, and $293 trillion in documented Lost Commercial Value. The company was selected for the Techstars Crypto Boston powered by Algorand accelerator cohort announced in April 2023.
Latest developments
The Golden Era chapter covering 1870–1940 is published, with the full 1776–2026 dataset described as forthcoming.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography
Market position
Positioned around the United States semiquincentennial (1776–2026) as a documentation project quantifying uncredited innovation by Foundational Black Americans, publishing its Golden Era chapter first while building toward a full 250-year record.
Combines historical patent aggregation with an explicit economic valuation methodology (three-layer LCV Engine producing per-inventor and aggregate lost-value figures), county-level geographic linkage, and crowd-sourced annotations on individual patent records.
Technology
A web-based database and terminal interface (BLK:INV) exposes inventor, patent and annotation records with live counters, decade and sector breakdowns, and roughly 64% county-linked geographic coverage. A proprietary "LCV Engine" computes Lost Commercial Value across three layers — royalty, wealth and derivative. The dataset draws on ICPSR Study 109970.
Go-to-market
Direct-to-public distribution through its website, which offers free access to the patent terminal and dataset, with an open annotation channel for research commentary. Participation in a Techstars accelerator program provided mentorship and network access.
Researchers, historians, educators and general audiences interested in US patent history and the contributions of Foundational Black Americans; the annotation feature invites contributions from outside commentators.
Geography
United States-focused dataset covering national patent records with state- and county-level attribution; inventor entries reference Ohio, New York, Indiana and Virginia among other states.
Compiled by commissioned research from 7 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 1
launches, deals, and filingsNamed among the 12 companies in the Techstars Crypto Boston powered by Algorand cohort listed in Techstars' April 2023 portfolio update. Techstars states it invests $120K in companies joining its three-month accelerator programs.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 7
primary sources listed
- Made with Black Culturemadewithblackculture.com · web
7 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Made with Black Culture do?
- Data platform documenting patents by Foundational Black Americans and estimating the commercial value lost to their exclusion.
- Who are Made with Black Culture's investors?
- Made with Black Culture's investors include Techstars.
- Where is Made with Black Culture headquartered?
- Made with Black Culture is headquartered in Los Angeles, US.