Venture Fund Investments, Prime Day Privacy, and Cable Growth

The Consumer Technology Association announced on Tuesday that it will invest in Harlem Capital Partners and SoGal Ventures as part of its $10 million commitment to venture firms and funds that invest in women, people of color, and other underrepresented entrepreneurs.

Harlem Capital Partners is a minority-owned early-stage venture capital firm aiming to change the face of entrepreneurship by investing in 1,000 diverse founders over the next 20 years. SoGal Ventures is the first female-led, millennial venture capital firm and invests in early stage diverse founding teams in the U.S. and Asia.

"For innovation to reach its fullest potential, different voices and perspectives must have an opportunity to come together in our workforce," said Tiffany Moore, senior vice president of political and industry affairs at CTA.

Amazon Prime Day on 7/22 and 7/23

As a part of a Prime Day promotion on Monday and Tuesday, Amazon offered customers a $10 coupon in exchange for the ability to track them online through Amazon Assistant, a comparison shopping browser extension.

The extension collects and processes information including the URL, page metadata, and page content of websites visited. According to the Amazon Assistant privacy notice, this information is used for a variety of purposes, including marketing.

“This gives Amazon a holistic view of your web activity that’s frankly, unprecedented by an ecommerce retailer,” said Ghostery browser extension President Jeremy Tillman.

Cable industry impact on U.S. economy at $450 billion

The cable industry’s impact on the U.S. economy has reached a new high of $450 billion, according to a report from Bortz Media & Sports Group. In addition, the industry collectively accounts for a total of three million jobs.

“Whether it's building the powerful broadband networks that are transforming our lives or creating the award-winning TV that is entertaining us, this industry continues to be one of the most significant contributors to our nation’s economy,” said Michael Powell, president of the Internet & Television Association, which commissioned the study. “We are not only an American industry with employees in every corner of the country but we employ people of all different skill levels and backgrounds, providing important jobs for hard working citizens everywhere.”

Data from the study, including an interactive map that displays economic and job data by state and congressional district, is available here.

(Photo of Amazon gift cards by Mike Mozart, used with permission.)