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]
Early life and education
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
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
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]