Supporting Black Entrepreneurs
Barry Givens, ME 08
Managing Director | Cox Enterprises Social Impact Accelerator powered by Techstars & Managing Partner | Collab Capital
AS A TECH UNDERGRAD, Barry Giv-
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BEN ROLLINS
ens and a few buddies ventured over to a nearby bar and grill one night to catch some basketball games. After ordering drinks, Givens and his group waited. And waited. And waited. “Wouldn’t it be cool,” Givens thought, “to have a machine like a soda fountain to dispense mixed drinks?” Four years later, Givens, an entrepreneurial soul toiling in a corporate role at Caterpillar, spent nights and weekends constructing just that. Leveraging a lifetime of at-home tinkering—hands-on exploration that began alongside his father in Stone Mountain, Georgia— and a mechanical engineering degree
from Tech, Givens built an automated bartending machine he dubbed Monsieur. Thereafter, Givens hustled to bring the invention to market. Monsieur netted $140,000 from a successful Kickstarter campaign, tested units in Atlanta area bars and restaurants, and earned a coveted presentation slot at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2013. “The day I got that news, I quit my job at Caterpillar,” Givens says. Monsieur raised nearly $5 million in funding and entered movie theaters, arenas, and hotels around the country before Givens licensed the technology to a large beverage manufacturing company and exited the company.
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Though it was a seemingly energized journey, Givens weathered heavy blows from the entrepreneurial life. Early on, he swapped a 33 percent ownership in Monsieur for $33,000— a decision he’d soon regret—and also confronted racism for the first time, including investors and customers questioning his role as Monsieur’s founder. “Being raised in Atlanta, seeing Black excellence up close, I was naïve to the broader perceptions that existed beyond my hometown,” he admits. Fueled by that eye- and heartopening experience, Givens has since devoted himself to building an entrepreneurial ecosystem that addresses systemic racism and supports Black founders. As managing director of the Cox Enterprises Social Impact Accelerator powered by Techstars, Givens has spearheaded a programming shift to prioritize companies attacking social justice issues. “With my experience, I can help these entrepreneurs gather the information they need to make wise decisions and grow their respective businesses,” Givens says. Beyond Techstars, Givens also cofounded Collab Capital, a $50 million venture fund specifically for Black founders. “I’m going to use all my strength, all my experience, to help the next generation start where I ended, so they can go even further,” he says. “It’s up to people who have something to offer to help accelerate change.” —DANIEL SMITH GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE | FALL 2021
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