This Baltimore-made social shopping platform is designed to support Black businesses

Traditional shopping apps often lack tools for brand promotion. An Ellicott City-based entrepreneur is betting on tech to provide tools for businesses in Baltimore. “I taught myself how to code,” said Vincent Johnson, founder and CEO of Xclusit, an app designed for Black-owned businesses to exhibit their products and provide shoppers with an organized shopping experience. Johnson pursued a master’s in divinity at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where he focused on Black economics, and shifted to entrepreneurship post-graduation. He wanted to pursue his PhD — but went with what he loves. “I love entrepreneurship so much,” said Johnson whose app is a Technical.ly 2024 RealLIST Startups runner up. This is the second entrepreneurial endeavor for the Mt. Juliet, Tenn., native. His initial app was named Coupify. Throughout his journey, which included attending accelerators such as Atlanta Tech Village and conducting customer discovery, he realized, after walking to numerous businesses in Atlanta (where he relocated from Baltimore), that Coupify didn’t quite meet the needs of Black business owners. He remembers walking into high-end boutiques, introducing himself and getting responses like: “We don’t do coupons up in here.” Conversations like that are what inspired him to pivot into creating a social platform...