CAPITAL
Alternatives Black-Owned Beauty Brands Are Looking To As VC And Grant Funding Dwindles
As tough as the venture capital contraction is for startups generally, it's far tougher for Black-founded startups. Data from financial resource Crunchbase shows that VC funding for Black-founded startups in the United States totaled $705 million last year, marking the first time since 2016 it failed to reach $1 billion and a 71%
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Taylor Bryant·June 14, 2024·1 min read
The 30-second read
As tough as the venture capital contraction is for startups generally, it’s far tougher for Black-founded startups. Data from financial resource Crunchbase shows that VC funding for Black-founded startups in the United States totaled $705 million last year, marking the first time since 2016 it failed to reach $1 billion and a 71% drop compared to a 37% drop in VC funding overall from the prior year.
On top of the VC funding crunch, grant programs Black founders tend to rely on for financial infusions are in flux. Last week, an appeals court suspended VC firm Fearless Fund’s grant program for Black women entrepreneurs.
To understand how Black beauty brand founders are maneuvering in the face of growing capital obstacles, for the latest edition of our ongoing series posing questions relevant to indie beauty, we asked 16 of them the following questions: With VC becoming more challenging and the future of grants in question, are you seeking out alternative funding? If so, what does it look like?
The players
3 mentionedBrand
Too Faced
Brand
AS Beauty
Founded2019
HQNew York, New York, United States
Revenue Range$150M+
Investor
The Fearless Fund
TypeVenture Capital ($0.5-20M)
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