In the International Women’s Day honoree, actress and entrepreneur Gabrielle Union and celebrity stylist Larry Sims, co-founders of Flawless by GABRIEL Unionis partnering with LinkedIn to help close that gap with a $25,000 grant initiative awarded to three women-owned companies of color, each in the fashion, skin care and hair accessories space.
There remains a significantly wide gap in access to capital, expertise and opportunities for women entrepreneurs of color. Black business owners typically receive less than 2 percent of total funding each year, and in 2021, black women entrepreneurs received 0.34 percent of total venture capital spent in the United States.
As these numbers stagnate year after year, Flawless by Gabrielle Union is stepping forward to help grow black women-owned businesses.
On March 8, eligible female entrepreneur applicants of color will have the chance to win $25,000 each through the inaugural grant. In addition to financial support, the Lift As We Rise Grant will provide a one-year LinkedIn Premium subscription and a mentoring session to help you improve your LinkedIn profile.
“We are so grateful to have a platform to support other women entrepreneurs of color,” Union said.
Powerful industry leaders join Union and Sims to provide guidance and insights that can lead to multifold growth in revenue, customers and market share.
B. Pagels-Minor of Dvrgnt Ventures, the first Black trans-VC founder, will serve as an expert on the judging panel for the initiative and provide mentoring sessions to the winners. Antoine Gregory, founder of the Black Fashion Fair, was also added to the panel of experts.
“We want to give these individuals the tools to succeed in a saturated space,” Sims said. “The financial support, along with one-on-one mentoring sessions with some of our incredible partners, aim to give recipients the opportunity to feel seen, supported and uplifted.”
Eligibility requirements
- Must be over 18 years old.
- Company must be based and operating in the United States (open to US residents and US brands only).
- The business must be in one of the following categories: fashion, skin care or hair accessories/tools.
- Must have a company website and social media presence.
- The products are not distributed at a large retailer.
- Businesses must move past the ideation phase with a fully customer-developed or customer-ready product or service.
deadline
Eligible applicants must complete the application in full and submit by April 19. To learn more about the Lift As We Rise Grant, visit https://flawlesscurls.com/pages/lift-as-we-climb-business-grant-application