Wikipedia

Travis Montaque

Travis Montaque (/ˈmɒntəˌkjuː/ MON-tə-kyoo;[1] born April 5, 1992) is an American entrepreneur. He is the CEO and founder of Holler, a messaging technology and conversational media company.[2] He is also the CEO and Co-Founder of Group Black, a media collective and accelerator focused on the advancement of Black-owned media properties.[3]

Travis Montaque
Travis Montaque Headshot
Born (1992-04-05) April 5, 1992 (age 32)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Miami
Occupation(s)Founder and CEO, Holler
Years active2014 - present

Early life and education

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Montaque was born and raised in South Florida.[4] He attended Everglades High School in Miramar[5] and at 15 worked as a cashier at Chick-fil-A. He managed two franchises before he left the company at 19.[6]

Montaque attended the University of Miami, and served as vice chairman of the Undergraduate Dean’s Advisory Board and on the School of Business's Hyperion Council. He was also a member of the Iron Arrow Honor Society, and an inaugural member of the University of Miami Marketing Advisory Board.[5] He graduated with a degree in accounting and finance in 2014.[7]

Career

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Montaque, who worked as an investment analyst at Barclays Capital and Trivest in college, also founded Splyst as an undergraduate.[5] Following his graduation, he turned down a job at Goldman Sachs to focus on Splyst, which was renamed Emogi in 2016 and Holler in 2019.[4][8] In April 2021, Holler announced their Series B Financing Round of $36M.[9]

In June 2021, Montaque announced his new organization, Group Black, in partnership with Richelieu Dennis.[10] Group Black aims to support Black-owned media and creators by connecting them with agencies and brands; the organization is also focused on investing in Black-owned companies. Montaque serves as the company's CEO and Co-Founder.

Montaque spoke about the importance of youth entrepreneurship at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in 2013.[11] He has written extensively on the topic of diversity in the workplace.[12]

Recognition

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Montaque appeared on the Forbes "30 Under 30" list at the age of 23.[13] He was named as one of the "50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs by Entrepreneur in 2018 [14] and included on the Black List 100 in 2020.[15] Fast Company named Holler to its "Most Innovative Social Media Companies" list in 2020.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "Conversation Nation S6 Ep1". YouTube. March 29, 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Travis Montaque - Founder & CEO at Holler". THE ORG. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  3. ^ Ives, Nat (2021-06-29). "Black-Owned Media Collective Launches to Help Brands Meet New Ad Commitments". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  4. ^ a b "Why This Entrepreneur Turned Down His Dream Job on Wall Street". Black Enterprise. 2018-06-17. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  5. ^ a b c "UM Graduate Plans to Grow His Business". news.miami.edu. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  6. ^ Dahlberg, Nancy. "Startup Spotlight: Miami-based Splyst raises funding, launches app". Miami Herald. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  7. ^ "The Launch Pad welcomes alumnus back to campus". news.miami.edu. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  8. ^ "Emogi Rebrands To Holler, Integrates With Dating App Badoo". www.mediapost.com. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  9. ^ "Holler raises $36M to power 'conversational media' in your favorite apps". TechCrunch. April 2021. Retrieved 2021-04-12.
  10. ^ ago, Larissa Faw2 days (30 June 2021). "GroupM Invests $75 Million in Black-Owned Media". Retrieved 2021-07-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "2013 Annual Meeting Agenda Day 3". Clinton Foundation. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  12. ^ Thomas, Jessica (2020-06-17). "How This Tech CEO Is Leading His Company Through Racial Unrest". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  13. ^ "Travis Montaque, 23". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  14. ^ Staff, Entrepreneur (2018-10-23). "The 50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs in 2018". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  15. ^ "Travis Montaque". #blacklist100. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  16. ^ "The 10 most innovative social media companies of 2020". Fast Company. 2020-03-10. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
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