FormFree, which offers borrower verification solutions to the mortgage industry, has appointed former hip-hop/rap recording artist-turned-techpreneur Victor D. Lombard, professionally known as DIVINE, as head of culture.
DIVINE is the CEO and founder of Solvent, a fintech focused on financial empowerment for marginalized groups. Solvent broke ground in 2022 when it was accepted as part of the inaugural cohort of Amazon’s AWS Impact Accelerator for Black Founders, an eight-week program designed to help high-potential, pre-seed startups led by under-represented founders.
Additionally in 2022, Solvent was accepted into Village Capital’s Innovations in Justice Tech, a fellowship program in collaboration with AmFam Institute and Dream.org that supports entrepreneurs building innovations to improve the lives of individuals and communities impacted by the justice system.
DIVINE grew up in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and endured childhood poverty and incarceration at age 19. Realizing his potential was boundless but his options were limited, following his release DIVINE took a leap of faith and asked Ben Horowitz, general partner and co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, to mentor him.
Horowitz, who grew up a hip-hop/rap fan in Berkeley, California, agreed. The mentorship proved a turning point for DIVINE, and his transformation from system-impacted youth to tech-founder has been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, Black Enterprise, Entrepreneur and Inc.
“We are extremely pleased that DIVINE has joined us and feel he is uniquely qualified to convey our message of financial parity for unserved and underserved communities,” says Brent Chandler, CEO and founder of FormFree, in a release. “DIVINE will be on the front lines of FormFree’s engagement of unserved and underserved communities he connects with in ways that are authentic and impactful.”