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Black woman-led skincare brand Topicals has closed another round of funding, per an exclusive report from The Business of Fashion. Topicals Founded in 2020 by Olamide Ayomikun Olowe, Topicals was born out of her search for a solution for those with hyperpigmentation, eczema, and dark spots. CNBC reports Olowe also struggled with hyperpigmentation and Pseudofolliculitis Barbae (PFB). Per its website, the Topicals product lineup features its faded under eye masks, serum, brightening cleansing bar, and more. She teamed up with Claudia Teng, who previously worked as a dermatology clinical research assistant, to launch the science-backed brand, with both women ultimately ditching their plans to attend medical school. Topicals later secured $14.8 million in funding before Olowe was 26 years old — as AFROTECH™ previously reported — making history as the youngest Black woman to raise $10 million in funding in 2022. Funding Now, WNBA player Angel Reese, which Forbes lists as one of the...
Following a successful social media campaign, CurlMix is now on track to become self-sustaining once more. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the clean, natural haircare line was founded by Kim and Tim Lewis, who first appeared on “Shark Tank” with their idea in 2019 but went on to raise funds on their own. Kim announced on Nov. 1, 2025, that the company was on the brink of closing if they did not receive 20,000 orders within 60 days. It wouldn’t be the first time the brand has sought community support. They previously raised $3.6 million in a 2021 crowdfunding campaign, and three years later, an additional $5.7 million was raised in a separate campaign. In a follow-up post on the business’s health, Kim admitted the funding campaign was not enough to keep the company in operation. She described 2025 as “the most difficult year in business” in a post shared on Instagram, citing challenges such as taxes, increased tariffs, and ingredient costs, as well as shipping delays. A decrease in...
After more than a decade as an entrepreneur, resilience defines Pinky Cole Hayes’ testimony. In 2014, she launched a restaurant in Harlem, NY, called Pinky’s Jamaican and American Restaurant at a time when she didn’t know “the first thing about business,” she admitted on “Sway’s Universe.” The venture attracted lines of customers down the block. However, a grease fire caused her to lose her entire restaurant. Slutty Vegan But, it didn’t diminish her spirit. Her next foray was Slutty Vegan, a plant-based fast-food chain founded in 2018 that currently has about six locations, including in her hometown of Baltimore. In 2022, the company was valued at nearly $100 million following a $25 million Series A funding round. The venture led to locations on the campuses of Georgia Institute of Technology and Spelman College, as well as in Texas — all of which have since closed. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Cole Hayes was tested to the limit by several challenges, including accruing $20...
The founders of Black Paper Party are in a state of gratitude for surviving 2025. Founders Madia Willis, J’Aaron (Jae) Merchant, and Jasmine Hudson launched Black Paper Party in 2020 out of Arkansas as a holiday brand that designs, licenses, and manufactures inclusive products for Black families. By 2024, the brand hit $1.4 million in revenue, according to Inc, and had been shelved in retailers such as Walmart, Target, Macy’s, Dollar General, and Family Dollar. Regarding support from customers, Merchant told AFROTECH™, “They’ve stuck with us, tried and true, made us a part of their holiday traditions. Even with everything that’s going on, they’re still looking to us for their little pockets of joy. So we couldn’t be more grateful.” 2025 Challenges This September marked five years for Black Paper Party. As the business expanded, the founder trio had to consider factors such as rising tariffs. Fortunately, they had infrastructure in place, which lowered the tariff burden, said Willis,...
Beyoncé has officially reached billionaire status. The Houston-born entertainer and businesswoman has been working professionally since she was a child as a member of Girls Tyme, which later became Destiny’s Child. The group was managed by her father, Mathew Knowles. Parkwood Entertainment Beyoncé has taken greater agency in her career through a slew of moves. In 2010, she launched Parkwood Entertainment, formerly Parkwood Pictures, which is responsible for her music and video production, management, marketing, digital, creative, philanthropy, and record label, Parkwood Music, according to its LinkedIn page. “When I decided to manage myself, it was important that I didn’t go to some big management company,” Beyoncé explained at a Q&A held during a SVA Directors Screening in 2013. “I felt like I wanted to follow the footsteps of Madonna and be a powerhouse and have my own empire and show other women when you get to this point in your career, you don’t have to go sign with someone...
Uncle Nearest’s founders are requesting the receivership to be terminated, according to The Lynchburg Times. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Uncle Nearest — a whiskey brand that reportedly surpassed a $1 billion valuation — was placed under receivership in August 2025 following claims by its lender, Farm Credit Mid-America, that the company defaulted on more than $108 million in loans . The Weavers allege that Uncle Nearest’s former chief financial officer, Mike Senzaki, exaggerated barrel inventory, which led to a $24 million credit increase from Farm Credit, per AFROTECH™. U.S. District Judge Charles E. Atchley Jr. appointed Tennessee attorney Phillip G. Young Jr. as receiver. Young now oversees Uncle Nearest’s Shelbyville, TN, distillery and its “real estate holdings, intellectual property, affiliated ventures, and related entities,” according to the Moore County Observer. On Nov. 24, the Weavers filed an emergency motion to prevent the receiver from taking any further actions...
Emma Grede always wants to operate from a place of authenticity and intention. During a panel held on Saturday, Dec. 6, for Saint & Citizen’s Saint Week at the Rubell Museum in Miami, FL, which brings together artists, designers, musicians, and thinkers who are innovating within the fashion industry today and for its future, she reflected on her identity and its role in shaping who she is today. Grede comes from Trinidadian and Jamaican roots and was raised by her Jamaican stepdad’s family. “So much of my identity was forged by the stories and the things that I’ve heard. And then of course, as a human being, you evolve. You evolve into a new identity. And I’d be lying if I said that so much a part of who I am today has come from me really spotting who I wanted to be, and being at conflict with that at times. When you grow up in a place like I did, you don’t always want to be that,” she shared on the panel. “I think that I had a really big vision and idea of what I wanted to be in...
Rayna Reid Rayford is aware that her maternal health experience was far from an anomaly. Rayford, a lawyer and strategic communicator, had a challenging start to parenthood. Early on, when she met her now husband, they had conversations about children and agreed they wanted just one. When they embarked on that journey, it was hard for Rayford to conceive, and she experienced two consecutive miscarriages within a couple of months. The second miscarriage was so painful that she went to the emergency room. “We started to meet with fertility doctors and I started to think, ‘Is something wrong with me?’ You really start to internalize a lot. And then it was at that juncture that we actually found out we were pregnant for the third time in the calendar year,” Rayford told AFROTECH™. This was in December 2023. She is grateful to have “survived” pregnancy. She worked with a doula after the first trimester because it was important to her to have a comprehensive 360-degree support system,...
Deidre Mathis caught the travel bug, and it led her to become an entrepreneur in the hospitality industry. While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in graphic communication and broadcast journalism at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University , she studied abroad in the Dominican Republic during her sophomore year, she told AFROTECH™. After graduation, she wasn’t fulfilled in her profession, which prompted her to return to school to earn a master’s degree in corporate communications. Then she moved to Australia, staying in a range of hostels and boutique hotels. “I was living there, and I was just traveling around by myself, and I was staying in a bunch of hostels and a bunch of boutique hotels because those were places that were easy for me to meet people because I was by myself,” she told AFROTECH™. “I always tell people I had my ‘Oprah aha moment’ one day when I was staying in this beautiful hotel, and it was this small, cute hotel. It had 12 rooms, and I said, ‘You know what? I...
Kristen Wells-Collins is inspiring young girls to become chemists. Wells-Collins was raised in an under-resourced community in Beaumont, TX, and said she had limited exposure to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), according to her commentary on “The Jennifer Hudson Show.” However, Wells-Collins went on to pursue a degree in chemistry at Prairie View A&M University, according to her LinkedIn . After her studies, she became exposed to cosmetic chemistry and was immediately hooked . Black To The Lab Wells-Collins’s interest in STEM has led her to become a cosmetic chemist educator and founder of Black to the Lab, which provides an activity kit with hands-on learning experiences for girls to create lip gloss, body scrubs, lotion, and more. She is driven by a mission to increase representation in the field among Black girls, she told Jennifer Hudson. PC: Black to the Lab “We know that they know makeup, so they know science. We want young girls to know that their...
Kayla Rowe turned pain into a business empire that is helping countless women and raking in major revenue. Rowe is a University of South Florida alum with a degree in public health , which she obtained in 2015, according to information on her LinkedIn. Her mother also planted the seed for her interest in health as a certified nursing assistant, Ebony reports. However, the catalyst for Rowe becoming a founder came after experiencing a miscarriage when she was five months pregnant in 2021. “That was very hard for me,” she told Ebony. “After that happened, I became more aware of everything, what I was eating, putting on my body, [and] I just became more cognizant and aware of health.” Her Fantasy Box A year later, Rowe launched Her Fantasy Box, a plant-based feminine hygiene and wellness brand. With a focus on transparency, safety, and women’s wellness, Rowe shared that it was important for ingredients to be nontoxic and not include parabens, phthalates, and other harmful chemicals...
Tabitha Brown is clearing the air about her partnership with Target. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, the retailer rolled back on its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments in early 2025, a move that helped fuel a consumer boycott that remains ongoing. While Target was not the only major retailer to scale back DEI efforts, many critics focused on the company because of its previous push to support Black-owned businesses and other minority groups. Brown is among those business owners whose products are sold at Target stores. She is under a licensing deal with the retailer, and her haircare brand Donna’s Recipe — launched in partnership with Gina Woods — is shelved in the store, as AFROTECH™ previously told you. Brown made a discreet Instagram post on January 24, not mentioning a single word, but the implication that she was referencing the retailer was evident. During an interview on iHeartPodcast’s “Not My Best Moment” hosted by KevOnStage, Brown shared how Black...
Mielle Organics has scored a first-of-its-kind partnership. The textured-hair care brand has experienced massive success. It is currently stocked by more than 100,000 retailers such as Target, CVS, Walgreens, Kroger, JCPenney, and Walmart, and in 2021, it secured $100 million in a non-dilutive round led by Berkshire Partners, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. The brand started when its founder, Monique Rodriguez, took a leap of faith when she walked away from a career in nursing to launch the venture with the help of her husband, Melvin. Today, the pair still lead the company as CEO and COO following the company’s acquisition by P&G Beauty in 2023, per AFROTECH™. What’s more, it’s still making significant moves. According to a press release, Mielle Organics has made history as the first official textured-hair care partner of the NFL. View this post on Instagram Tracie Rodburg, the NFL’s senior vice president of global partnerships, said the league is “excited” to work with Mielle...
Black-woman-owned Prismm has secured significant funding to help families in times of crisis. Prismm Prismm is a transaction-enabled digital vault. It stores critical records that become essential during an emergency. Users can upload documents, property and asset information, and financial accounts. They can also add beneficiaries, trusted persons, lawyers, executors, or advisors as connections, granting them view-only, view-and-modify, or no access across all categories, according to the company’s website. All information stored on Prismm is encrypted using HTTPS and kept in a digital vault that can be decrypted only with an authorized user account and the correct account key. Prismm intends to protect deposits for financial institutions and automate the inheritance transfer process, which is timely given that $84.4 trillion in wealth is projected to be transferred to Millennial and Gen X heirs by 2045, according to financial services organization, Cerulli Associates. Inception...
Joulenie Pierre had faith the size of a mustard seed and has watched her bakery grow to new heights. Pierre was a college student double-majoring in economics and political science on a pre-law track in Miami when she ventured into entrepreneurship. To support herself financially, she had a job working 30 hours a week at Lululemon, she shared on TikTok. Feeling stressed, she said she leaned into her passion for baking. “Baking was my way of having my own peace, my own clarity, and being as calm as I possibly can be. It helped keep me grounded. It was like my form of therapy essentially,” Pierre, 20, explained on TikTok. @therollanddough Part 2 out of 5 addressing the concerns ♬ original sound – Roll & Dough Roll and Dough With the help of her business partner, Jovan, she launched Roll and Dough. Pierre had just $100 in her bank account at the time and was waiting on her financial aid to come in to cover her rent. She went two months without being able to pay her rent, but she did...