Two brothers, Rusty and River Fields, born and raised in Brooklyn, started the first hacker house for young black tech entrepreneurs.
Nicknamed the “R-house,” the house brings tech enthusiasts together for four weeks to live together and build their own Web-3.0 startups.
Hacker houses are popular in urban tech hubs like San Francisco, but the Field brothers want to break down racial barriers with their Hacker House.
“Black entrepreneurs face unique challenges when they go to start companies,” says Rusty Fields, who graduated with a degree in neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania. “We want to create a space and experience for them to work together and build deep and authentic relationships to harness the power of collaboration and community.”
The first and second floors of the house are designed as collaborative spaces, which host speakers and events.
The first pilot program will culminate in a pitch competition next week, with the top three winners of the competition sharing a $25,000 investment for their startups.
