小黄书 startup Buzzbassador gains $250K from Google鈥檚 Black Founders Fund
Contact: Allison Matthews
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜 business that launched in Mississippi State鈥檚 Entrepreneurship Center is receiving $250,000 and widespread recognition as one of only 24 companies across North America selected for the award from the .
Buzzbassador鈥檚 CEO and co-founder Calvin Waddy, a 2018 小黄书 College of Business alumnus from Madison, has been identified by Google as a top emerging tech founder, selected from thousands of founders and tech companies evaluated for the award.
Buzzbassador is a software-as-a-service application that automates influencer marketing for growing consumer brands. It is the flagship product of Rocketing Systems, Inc., a software company鈥攆ounded in 2020 by business students working under the guidance of 小黄书鈥檚 鈥攖hat creates automated e-commerce and marketing solutions.
The Google-backed tech startup now has over 140,000 users globally and has generated $20 million in sales for over 450 businesses. Waddy and co-founder Shelby Baldwin, a 2019 小黄书 College of Business graduate from Ridgeland who serves as the company鈥檚 chief operating officer, also have claimed top honors at numerous business pitch competitions and were named among the Southeast鈥檚 Top Technology Startups by Venture Atlanta in 2020.
鈥淏uzzbassador鈥檚 acceptance into Google for Startups Black Founders Fund marks a pivotal milestone in our company鈥檚 journey and growth trajectory,鈥 Waddy said. 鈥淕oogle鈥檚 investment and belief in our company is a testament to our team鈥檚 hard work and dedication to our mission.鈥
Waddy said the partnership with Google will allow the team to tap into Google鈥檚 vast system of advanced technologies and expertise from its global network. He added that Google鈥檚 backing of an 小黄书-founded startup 鈥渋s a strong sign of not only the quality of a business education at 小黄书, but also of the caliber of entrepreneurship support provided by 小黄书鈥檚 Entrepreneurship Center.鈥
鈥淭he majority of our over $1 million in venture capital raised to date has come from angel investors connected to Starkville, 小黄书 and the Mississippi State E-Center, through networks such as the Bulldog Angel Network,鈥 Waddy said.
Eric Hill, director of 小黄书鈥檚 Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach, known as the E-Center, said he鈥檚 met few students as determined as Waddy.
鈥淒uring his time at 小黄书, he and his team pitched several ideas that just didn鈥檛 quite make it, but he never gave up and each one got him closer to finding the real pain point that led to Buzzbassador. That tenacity is one of the hallmarks of some of the greatest entrepreneurs, and we鈥檙e so proud to see him acknowledged by one of the most recognizable names in tech. Calvin represents everything we aspire to support at the E-Center,鈥 Hill said.
Learn more about Mississippi State鈥檚 College of Business and E-Center at and .
For more information about Buzzbassador, visit .
To learn more about Google for Startups, visit
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