Built to Scale: Announcing the 10 Startups Joining Cohort 6 of Braze Product Grant Program

In late 2025, we opened applications for the sixth cohort of Tech for an Equitable Future—our product grant program designed to equip founders with the enterprise-grade customer engagement technology they need to build stronger relationships with their customers, drive revenue, and accelerate growth.

This year’s application cycle drew a 62% year-over-year increase in global applications across North America, EMEA, and APAC. Out of hundreds of competitive businesses, 64 advanced to full consideration, and only 10 were ultimately selected. This rigorous process wasn't just about volume; it was about strategic alignment. We evaluated companies based on proven product-market fit, technical platform readiness, and the operational infrastructure required to drive immediate value. By focusing on startups that are structurally ready to maximize our technology, we are ensuring that this program acts as a true growth accelerator—helping these founders build resilient, enterprise-ready businesses that are set up for long-term commercial success.

With this newest cohort, the Tech for an Equitable Future program has now served over 70 startup founders since launching in 2020. Each of the 10 newly accepted members will receive 12 months of free access to the Braze platform and supporting services—amounting to a $26,500 in annualized product value donated to each company to help them grow their customer base and build vibrant communities.

Deepening Our Roots in the Startup Founder Community

True platform access begins with authentic engagement. This year, we shifted our focus toward building deeper relationships within the startup ecosystem, collaborating closely with VCs, accelerators, Braze for Startups, and community builders to connect with brilliant founders.

Rather than relying on a standard application form alone, we focused on showing up where the real conversations happen. At SXSW, we teamed up with Amplitude and Hustle Fund VC to host a founder pitch competition, a momentum we carried right into New York Tech Week. There, we opened the doors of Braze HQ for a dynamic founder panel in partnership with People of Color in Tech (POCIT), sparking deep tactical conversations about how the right tech stack can fundamentally alter a startup’s growth trajectory.

This collaborative energy extended across the country to San Francisco Tech Week, where we expanded our footprint with a pitch competition alongside Colorwave and Amplitude—ultimately welcoming our second-place winner, Buzzable, into Cohort 6. We wrapped up the week by co-hosting a vibrant Latino founders reception with Tribaja, and later, gathered entrepreneurs for an intentional founder dinner at AfroTech alongside POCIT.

By consistently showing up alongside these incredible ecosystem partners, we aren't just building a pipeline of applicants—we are earning the trust of the founders and communities who are actively shaping the future of technology.

Evolving the Program for Long-Term Impact

Years into this journey, our goal remains the same: to connect the right companies with Braze technology for maximum impact. As the startup ecosystem evolves, so do we. For Cohort 6, we’ve shifted our focus toward driving product-led growth, ensuring founders unlock the full power of Braze from day one. To achieve this, we’ve introduced pre-program technical milestones to ensure immediate platform adoption, while rightsizing entitlements so early-stage startups realize faster ROI and ensure their platform costs align naturally with their business growth. Crucially, founders continue to be backed by our enterprise-grade support, pairing each company with a dedicated Customer Success Manager.

This cohort also marks a major shift toward ecosystem collaboration, with 60% of companies utilizing partner-led onboarding. We are incredibly grateful to TELUS Digital, Relationship One, Covalent Marketing, Apply Digital, and Top Decile for providing the pro-bono, hands-on implementation support these founders need to scale smoothly and build a repeatable blueprint for long-term success.

"Meeting the Braze team at SF Tech Week felt like the perfect alignment at the perfect time. Buzzable is building the agentic operating system for the $1.5T event economy—moving past legacy, transactional ticketing to unlock true community and measurable ROI for organizers, attendees, and brands. Orchestrating real-time, automated touchpoints across those three distinct stakeholders is a complex data challenge. Gaining 12 months of free access to Braze allows us to seamlessly automate our engagement layers, deploy hyper-personalized user journeys, and transition from early traction to unstoppable growth."

—Hesam Jafari, Founder, Buzzable

With that, we're proud to announce the 10 startups selected for our 2026 cohort. Please join us in congratulating our newest Tech for an Equitable Future class:

• With that, we're proud to announce the 10 startups selected for our 2026 cohort. Please join us in congratulating our newest Tech for an Equitable Future class:
• Buzzable (San Francisco, CA): Buzzable is an events and community discovery app that helps users find local activities, connect with like-minded people, and build real-world communities around shared interests. Founded by Hesam Jafari.
• CakeClub (Miami, FL): CakeClub is a personal finance app built on a cash-flow-first philosophy, helping everyday people uncover small, actionable changes that create lasting financial freedom. Founded by Amin Boroomand.
• Cloud Closet (Austin, TX): Cloud Closet is an AI-powered social platform that transforms your wardrobe into a personal search engine, helping users plan outfits, shop more intentionally, and connect with a community of style-conscious shoppers. Founded by Caroline Lakshmanan.
• Equera (Berlin, Germany): Equera is a SaaS platform reshaping local and community-based tourism by equipping organizations with the tools to develop, package, and distribute their offerings to a growing global market. Founded by Danielle Finch.
• HolaVida Health (Miami, FL): HolaVida Health is a telehealth platform delivering culturally relevant, accessible virtual care—including GLP-1 weight loss support—tailored to underserved communities across the United States. Founded by Eric Xavier Macias.
• KnowTheZodiac (Atlanta, GA): KnowTheZodiac is an astrology platform offering personalized horoscopes, birth chart insights, and wellness content across all 12 zodiac signs, built over more than a decade of organic community-building with over one million followers. Founded by Dossé-Via Trenou.
• LUXE AI (Atlanta, GA): LUXE AI is an AI strategy platform helping luxury brands personalize customer experiences, optimize inventory, and navigate digital transformation without compromising their brand identity. Founded by Nyah Chapman.
• MATTEO PARFUMS (Los Angeles, CA): MATTEO PARFUMS is a green science fine fragrance house rooted in neuroscience, green chemistry, and multicultural inclusivity—crafting scents that celebrate diverse identities and prioritize personal and planetary health. Founded by Matthew Sánchez.
• Movespot (Atlanta, GA): Movespot is a mobile platform that blends social networking and real-world engagement, allowing users to discover and create spontaneous activities—called "moves"—and build community around them. Founded by Carl White III.
• SupportPay (Charlotte, NC): SupportPay is the first automated co-parenting financial platform, simplifying the tracking and exchange of child support and shared expenses for the nearly 300 million parents navigating post-divorce finances. Founded by Sheri Atwood.

Interested in learning more about the program? Visit the Tech for an Equitable Future program page for more information.

Forward-looking statements

This blog post contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated benefits from participation in the Tech for an Equitable Future program. These forward-looking statements are based on the current assumptions, expectations and beliefs of Braze, and are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Further information on potential factors that could affect Braze results are included in the Braze Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2026, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 28, 2026, and the other public filings of Braze with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this blog post represent the views of Braze only as of the date of this blog post, and Braze assumes no obligation, and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.