Serena Williams will be keynote speaker at Black Tech Week Conference

Former World No. 1 Serena Williams will be the keynote speaker at the Black Tech Week Conference in Cincinnati from July 18 to 22.

According to a press release (as per Ebony), the 40-year-old will represent a tech investment firm, Serena Ventures, where she's the managing partner. The firm reportedly brokered over 10000 deals across 400 brands worth $5 million in revenue last year.

Black Tech Week is an 'inclusion-focused ecosystem-building festival that partners with founders, corporations and the community to create a valuable experience for investors, entrepreneurs and techies of every kind'. Williams will make her appearance on Thursday, July 21, at the Music Hall in Cincinnati at 1 PM EST.

The 23-time Major winner said about her upcoming address:

“Black Tech Week is a movement in support of the success of ecosystems being built by Black founders. I’m looking forward to joining this strong community of talent, connecting and impacting the future of technology.”

The five-day event in Cincinnati will have over 50 tech influencers, minority innovators and ecosystem builders among its featured speakers.

Apart from Williams, other notable featured speakers include REVOLT TV CEO Detavio Samuels, Black Web Fest Founder Victoria Coker and Black Girls Code Founder Kimberly Bryant, among others.

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Serena Williams lost on her singles return at Wimbledon

Serena Williams at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.

Serena Williams made her much-awaited singles return at Wimbledon last fortnight.

She was away from action for almost a year after tearing her hamstring during her first-round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich at SW19 last year. However, the seven-time winner's comeback ended in the opening hurdle.

She made a slow start against Harmony Tan, losing the opening set 7-5. Williams bounced back into contention by conceding only one game in the second. However, she couldn't ride her momentum in the decider, failing to serve out the victory and squandering a 4-0 lead in the supertiebreak. Tan eventually prevailed 10-7 to dump out the seven-time winner after three hours and ten minutes.

The Frenchwoman went on to reach the fourth round, losing to Amanda Animisova in straight sets. Meanwhile, Williams is likely to continue her pursuit of drawing level with all-time Grand Slam title leader Margaret Court (24) at the US Open next month.

The 40-year-old last won a Major at the 2017 Australian Open, when she was three months pregnant. She has lost her last four Grand Slam finals - Wimbledon 2018 and 2019, and US Open 2018 and 2019.