Jon Gosier

From 2009 to 2011 Jon Gosier was the Director of SwiftRiver at Ushahidi.{{cite web |first=Erik |last=Hersman |date=December 14, 2009 |title=Jon Gosier joins the Swift River Initiative |url=http://blog.ushahidi.com/2009/12/14/jon-gosier-joins-the-swift-river-initiative/ |website=Ushahidi.com}}{{cite web |title=Q&A: Jon Gosier on crowdsourcing and the 'Silicon Valley of Africa' |url=http://memeburn.com/2011/04/qa-jon-gosier-on-crowdsourcing-and-the-silicon-valley-of-africa/ |website=Memeburn.com|date=28 April 2011 }}{{cite web |last=Watters |first=Audrey |date=January 3, 2011 |title=Crisis-Mapping Platform Ushahidi Announces Crowdmap:CI, 'Check-ins With a Purpose' |url=http://readwrite.com/2011/01/03/check-ins_with_a_purpose_with_crisis-mapping_ushah#awesm=~okem2Pe0ALHT0N |website=readwrite.com}}{{cite magazine |last=Kirwan |first=Peter |date=September 7, 2010 |title=SwiftRiver: Tagging a crisis |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2010/10/start/tagging-a-crisis |magazine=Wired |accessdate=October 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015111740/http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2010/10/start/tagging-a-crisis |archive-date=October 15, 2013 |url-status=dead }}

Gosier is currently the founder and CEO of Appfrica. It is a technology firm based in Kampala, Uganda.{{cite web |title=An Interview with Appfrica Founder Jon Gosier |url=http://whiteafrican.com/2008/08/26/an-interview-with-appfrica-founder-jon-gosier/ |website=WhiteAfrican.com}} in 2008 in Kampala, Uganda.{{cite web |first=Andrew |last=Brennan |date=September 24, 2013 |title=Uniting a diaspora is, by its very nature, a big challenge. |url=http://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/4659 |website=TheLinkNewspaper.ca}} The firm has been responsible for a number of technology initiatives responsible for promoting Africa's technology sector including Apps4Africa,{{cite web |title=Creators of "Apps 4 Africa" Contest Discuss the Ideas Behind It |url=http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2010/07/20100716161505ihecuor0.6529505.html#axzz2hg6hm3Sf |website=USembassy.gov |date=July 16, 2010}} HiveColab, QuestionBox{{cite web |title=Fellows Friday with Rose Shuman |url=http://blog.ted.com/2011/06/03/fellows-friday-with-rose-shuman/ |website=TED.com |date=June 3, 2011}} and for helping Google Africa translate its page for Ugandan audiences.{{cite web |first=Tayo |last=Akinyemi |date=August 18, 2009 |title=Bridging the Communication Gap in Uganda: Appfrica Labs |url=http://www.nextbillion.net/blogpost.aspx?blogid=1497 |website=NextBillion.net}}

Gosier was one of the founders of Apps4Africa, an accelerator for African technology initiatives. Apps4Africa began with a series of Challenges whose sponsors include Appfrica and the U.S. Department of State. {{Citation needed|date=October 2013}} The goal of Apps4Africa is to promote 'African solutions to African problems' by rewarding African technologists seeking to impact society with their inventions.{{cite web |first=Katie |last=Dowd |date=July 1, 2010 |url=http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/apps_africa/ |title=Announcing 'Apps 4 Africa' |website=blogs.state.gov |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303041715/http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/apps_africa |archivedate=March 3, 2013 }} The competition asks civil society and citizens throughout the continent to submit local community challenges on issues like transparency and better governance, health, education and more. The project began in late 2009 with a partnership formed between Appfrica and the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of African Affairs, Office of Public Diplomacy (AF/PDPA) as part of President Barack

Obama's administration's 21st Century Statecraft initiative.{{cite news |title=Africa: 'The United States – Africa Partnership – the Last Four Years and Beyond' – Assistant Secretary Carson |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201301161443.html |work=AllAfrica |date=January 16, 2013}}

Gosier co-founded MetaLayer in 2011 alongside business partner Matthew Griffiths. The company aimed to empower non-technical users to conduct data-driven research—such as identifying trends in large data sets, performing predictive analytics, and creating visualizations—through intuitive, drag-and-drop data science tools.{{Cite web |date=2013-09-26 |title=Moving on from SwiftRiver and Ushahidi |url=http://gosdot.com/post/7104541418/moving-on-from-swiftriver-and-ushahidi |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926090120/http://gosdot.com/post/7104541418/moving-on-from-swiftriver-and-ushahidi |archive-date=September 26, 2013 |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=gosdot.com}}{{Cite web |last=Talbert |first=Marcia Wade |date=2013-04-12 |title=Tech Startup of the Week: MetaLayer Takes Big Data and Makes Sense of It |url=https://www.blackenterprise.com/tech-startup-of-the-week-metalayer-jon-gosier/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Black Enterprise |language=en-US}}

The company was acquired by D8A Group in August 2013.{{Cite news |date=2015-09-28 |title=The Roundup |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/DJFPEA0120150928eb9setgpy |access-date=2025-05-02 |work=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}

Gosier co-founded Audigent in 2014, which is a data activation, curation, and identity platform that specializes in leveraging privacy-safe, first-party data to enhance media addressability and monetization without relying on cookies.{{Cite web |last=Huffman |first=Sarah |date=2024-12-11 |title=Experian acquires Audigent, adtech giant backed early by Philly orgs, for reported $200M+ |url=https://technical.ly/startups/audigent-experian-acquisition-philadelphia-power-moves/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Technical.ly |language=en}} In November 2024, Audigent was acquired by Experian. The deal was reported to be valued between $200 million and $250 million.

Jon Gosier founded Southbox Entertainment in 2017. In September 2019, Southbox Entertainment announced its launch in Atlanta, to serve as a source of capital for filmmakers and TV producers.{{Cite web|title=Atlanta-Based Investor Brings Film Finance Down South|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/atlanta-based-investor-brings-film-finance-down-south-300916831.html|date=2019-09-12|website=www.prnewswire.com|language=en|access-date=2020-06-01}}

Abayima is a non-profit organization that was founded to support citizens when their voices are threatened in the form of attacks on communications infrastructure.

Abayima (the Luganda word for "Guardian") was inspired by the plight of activists in countries like Uganda, Libya, Syria, and Egypt where authorities have been known to sever (or monitor) citizen access to the internet and mobile communication.{{cite news |last=Robertson |first=Jordan |title=The day part of the Internet died: Egypt goes dark |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jan/28/day-part-internet-died-egypt-goes-dark/ |newspaper=The Washington Times}} During these 'internet black-outs', Abayima provides solutions that allow citizens and journalists to communicate in spite of such measures. In 2011 the project was piloted by Gosier and his colleagues when government authorities in Uganda began intercepting SMS messages, a popular means for communicating in developing countries during times of crisis.{{cite web |title=A Brief History of the Abayima Project |url=http://blog.appfrica.com/2013/01/17/a-brief-history-of-the-abayima-project/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124071203/http://blog.appfrica.com/2013/01/17/a-brief-history-of-the-abayima-project/ |archive-date=2013-01-24 |access-date=2013-01-24 |publisher=Appfrica.com}}

Gosier is the CEO and Founder of FilmHedge, which was launched in 2020. The company provides financing for the film and television industry.{{Cite web |last=Bird |first=Matt |date=2025-03-14 |title=Jon Gosier CEO of FilmHedge Discusses Film & TV Financing at World Economic Forum |url=https://esgnews.com/jon-gosier-ceo-filmhedge-film-tv-financing-world-economic-forum/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=ESG News |language=en-US}} Since its inception, FilmHedge has facilitated over $200 million in funding for more than 40 feature films and scripted series.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-23 |title=FilmHedge Founders Attract Institutional Interest in Film Financing at Davos |url=https://esgnews.com/filmhedge-founders-attract-institutional-interest-in-film-financing-at-davos/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=ESG News |language=en-US}}

• 2012- CNN named him as Ten African Tech Voices to Follow on Twitter
• 2013 - Business Insider named him as one of the 25 most influential African-Americans in Technology
• 2013 - His mobile app, Abayima, was awarded a $150,000 grant from the Knight News Challenge{{Cite web |date=2013-01-18 |title=Knight News Challenge |url=https://blog.ted.com/tag/knight-news-challenge/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |language=en-US}}
• 2013 - nominated as one of three Innovators of the Year by Black Enterprise Magazine for his work with data startup MetaLayer
• 2015 - TIME’s ‘12 New Faces of Black Leadership’{{Cite web |last=Abraham |first=Tony |date=2015-01-19 |title=Jon Gosier named one of TIME's ‘12 New Faces of Black Leadership’ |url=https://technical.ly/startups/jon-gosier-12-new-faces-of-black-leadership/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Technical.ly |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Butler |first=Michael |date=2021-07-30 |title=Jon Gosier found global success in tech before Philly funding brought him here. But it wasn't enough to keep him |url=https://technical.ly/diversity-equity-inclusion/jon-gosier-left-philadelphia-investment/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Technical.ly |language=en}}

{{reflist|2}}

• {{Official website|http://gosier.org/}}
• {{TED speaker}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131108120845/http://fellows.ted.com/profiles/jonathan-gosier TED.com profile]
• [http://appfrica.com/ Appfrica]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131014173458/http://blog.appfrica.com/ Appfrica Blog]
• [http://apps4africa.com/ Apps4Africa Blog]
• [http://www.ushahidi.com/ Ushahidi]
• [http://www.metalayer.com/ MetaLayer]

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