Barry Givens

Barry Givens is a techie, an entrepreneur, and a lover of all things helping to add COLOR to the Tech Industry. Based in Atlanta GA, he currently spends his time helping and advising emerging entrepreneurs (mostly African-American) and is working to launch several projects to bring racial parity to the economics, education, and workforce of the tech industry. He co-founded Collab Capital in 2018 where he and his partners Jewel Burks Solomon and Justin Dawkins invest in Black founders to turn their genius into generational wealth. He also serves as the Managing Director for the Cox Social Impact Program powered by Techstars and serves on the board for Venture Atlanta.

In 2012 Givens founded a cutting edge hardware technology company named Monsieur. At Monsieur, he and his team developed a patented mixing technology that evolved the way the hospitality industry markets, sells, and dispenses mixed adult beverages (cocktails). The technology is currently being utilized in several popular venues ranging from sports arenas (e.g. Churchill Downs), to large cinema chains (e.g. Regal Cinemas).

Monsieur launched at Techcrunch Disrupt Battlefield in 2013 which is one of the most prestigious platforms for tech companies. He brought that experience home and won The Technology Association of GA Business Launch competition and ran a successful Kickstarter campaign. Givens and his team successfully raised over $4MM in seed and Series A funding and grew the company to a successful exit in 2017.

Givens has been featured in notable publications such as CNN, CNN Money, Wired, TechCrunch, Entrepreneur Magazine, Huffington Post, Fast Company and many more.

Prior to founding Monsieur, Givens graduated from GA Tech and spent his early career with John Deere as a design engineer and with Caterpillar as a product manager. He also dipped his toe in the entrepreneurial waters creating a custom shoe company named Slushie Kicks and co-authoring a book titled Plan "B" Sucks: Work on Your Dreams, not Your Boss's.

He currently lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife and 2 children.