Media perpetuates stereotypes, lacks diverse leadership, and offers fewer choices to Black viewers

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Media is important. It shapes public perceptions, enhances stereotypes and can serve to educate, empower and entertain. Despite the importance – and the prevalence – of media, there are few options for Black viewers. 83% of Black viewers say they don’t see their stories represented; and 81% want more films and television shows starring Black actors. 

Despite the demand, Black creators face difficulty establishing themselves in the industry and are less likely to secure distribution, which causes economic hardship. Only 6% of the writers, directors & producers of US-produced films are Black. 92% of film executives are White. This creates a vacuum of culture and content for over a billion people of African descent.

Our culture. Curated.

We're a mission-driven media company curating culturally-rich content  for and about Black people across the globe.

We use storytelling to entertain, educate, connect communities, spark activism and ultimately heal. Our business model is built around shifting the Black narrative, helping to dismantle implicit bias and increase the visibility and economic inclusion of black creatives. Through our collective content, we aim to share the African Diaspora experience with all.

kweliTV creates a pipeline that pays talented and promising filmmakers so they can produce more impactful content—60% of our revenue is allocated to our creators.

Kweli means truth in Swahili. Our mission is to curate content that is a true reflection of the global black experience.

Discover and celebrate Black stories from across the globe

kweliTV is an interactive digital platform that allows viewers to discover and celebrate Black stories from around the world through curated independent films, documentaries, animation, web series, kids shows, live experiences & more from North America, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and Australia. 98% of our films have been official selections at film festivals and 65% are award-winning. Our 550+ titles display the rich culture & history of the global Black community that’s oftentimes missing in the media. We aim to amplify and showcase high-quality content produced by independent, globally diverse and unique creatives of African descent. 

One of the best movie streaming services for 2021

Even when we were in our beta mode, kweliTV was generating buzz. That buzz paid off. We have 45K+ registered users, we’ve reached 125K+ followers on social media and we’ve seen massive customer growth of 123% in 2020.  Our total revenue to date is $653K+ (with very little seed capital). *

We’re ranked one of the best movie streaming services for 2020 by PCMag. Our platform hosts 430+ global filmmakers. 

Actor & comedian Lil Rel Howery serves as our Head of Comedy. We connect Black-owned brands with our customers; currently partnering 30+ (and growing) Black-owned businesses including Figgers Wireless, African Ancestry, MahoganyBooks, Africa on My Black, Freedom Paper Co., and more!

*As of July 2021

Content that is a true reflection of the global Black experience

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Our mission is to curate and create content that is a true reflection of the global black experience. Our company is 100% black-owned. As such, our potential customers are the roughly 1.35B+ people of African descent across the globe. We're already building a global brand — 81% of kweliTV customers are in the U.S. & Canada, 9% are in the UK, 5% are on the continent of Africa and 5% are in Latin America & the Caribbean. 

While 77% of our customers are 24-54 years old, kweliTV is generation agnostic — meaning our content is for all ages. We’ve seen very positive feedback from our community, both from viewers and content creators. 

$109 customer lifetime value

kweliTV is primarily a subscription-based platform. 60% of our subscriber revenue goes to our content providers, meaning a portion of our customers' subscription dollars support our creators, allowing them to get paid for their work. We offer two subscription plans — monthly and annual. So far, we have seen an average customer lifetime value of $109. In addition to our subscription packages, kweliTV also accrues revenue from live experiences, sponsorships and ads, rentals, and carriage and royalties. 

Currently, customers can subscribe, rent or live stream from anywhere in the world! In the next 12 months, we will be diversifying our revenue model even more.

$7B Global opportunity

The global video streaming market is expected to reach $842.93 billion by 2028. As such, we're offering an important product to a fast growing segment in the global market. Six of the fastest growing economies are in Africa; 80 percent of Brazil’s new members of the middle class are Black; and the U.S. Black buying power is projected to grow to $1.8 trillion by 2024. All told, kweliTV has a $7B global streaming market opportunity. 

Rated excellent in comparison to our competitors

kweliTV is one of few Black-owned and Black-focused companies providing inclusive, diverse and meaningful entertainment options for black viewers. Our two closest competitors are Brown Sugar and BET+, neither of which are Black-owned, do not offer the type of curated Black stories or support their creators the unique way in which we do.

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How we measure up: 

Taking control of our media and giving Black creators space to have a voice

kweliTV is a catalyst for change — a mixture of entertainment and education. We created kweliTV to take control of our media and give our storytellers, thought-leaders, journalists, filmmakers, activists, animators, historians, designers, comics—creators of all types—a space to have a voice and get paid for their work. 

Our immediate goals include launching our Black filmmaker platform exclusively for kweliTV creators, adding more multilingual language options, tripling our distribution channels, hosting more live events, implementing community-building features on our platform, and introducing short form originals. With your investment, we can double our global reach.

Raising funds to expand our platform and offer new content choices

kweliTV is entering into its first official round of funding to expand our platform. We want to bring on new media choices for our customers, such as original content, interactive experiences and adding 200+ more creators. We also plan to make 2 key hires and test a new revenue stream. To date, we've received grants, convertible notes and pitch winnings from TEDCO, Lightship Capital, Harvard Business School's Africa Business Club, Halcyon, Voqal, News Integrity Initiative, and more — totaling $150K. 

100% Black-owned

DeShuna Elisa Spencer is the Founder & CEO of kweliTV. She’s a former radio host and producer of emPower Hour, a show that examined social justice issues affecting people of color, on Washington, DC’s 89.3 FM WPFW. She is a Chips Quinn Scholar, a Halcyon Incubator Fellow, a Voqal Fellow and a Google NexGen Policy Leader. Spencer was first place winner of the 2017 Harvard Business School African Business Conference Pitch Competition.  In 2019, the Digital Diversity Network named Spencer the Innovation & Inclusion Social Entrepreneur of the Year. She’s an advisory board member of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association.