Native Newarker and award-winning tech entrepreneur Anthony Frasier did not have it all figured out when he started his journey in the tech space. In fact, his passion wasn’t actualized until he dropped out of Essex County Community College.
It was then he decided to start a business. Using his childhood passion for video games as a guide, Frasier pulled from his experiences as an intern at a web development firm and his coalition of techie friends to create a site of his own—TheKoalition.com
The Koalition is a gaming website that provides a platform for gamers from all different backgrounds and countries, and engages them through blog posts, video game reviews, game platforms, Hip-Hop mixtapes and more. The site went on to win the 2009 Black Weblog Award for the best technology site/blog.
From there, Frasier went on to Silicon Valley to excel in technology by graduating from the NewMe Accelerator, class of 2011. He shared his experience in the CNN documentary Black in America: The New Promise Land – Silicon Valley.
In 2012, Frasier and co-founder James Lopez started The Phat Startup, a media content platform that provides knowledge and insight for up-and-coming entrepreneurs through interviews, events, and conferences. They also went on to host Hip-Hop-themed tech conferences called Tech 808 events for aspiring entrepreneurs in music technology. Tech 808 sold out 15 events in NYC and held two conferences in Newark, Oakland, and Atlanta.
Frasier retired The Phat Startup in 2015 to focus on personal pursuits in his hometown of Newark. His reasoning, “In Newark, we’re doing the work. I like being around people who are willing to get their hands dirty and get the work done.”
Frasier now sits on the advisory board of Newark Venture Partners (NVP), a venture fund and tech accelerator that invests up to $1 million in emerging technology entrepreneurs based in Newark. The fund was founded by Newark-based Audible CEO Don Katz in 2015.
Frasier’s latest endeavor is ABF Creative, a company that produces branded podcasts for Fortune 500 companies, to make sure “big brands are talking to multicultural audiences the right way,” he says. “We’re creating our own boardroom. We’re taking control of the narrative. And Newark’s voice is trending,” Frasier added, referring to the presence of the VOICE Tech Summit that was held at NJIT in Summer 2018. “My long-term goal is to help make Newark a capital for voice technology.”
