CurlMix founder Kim Lewis speaking while Kendra Bracken-Ferguson moderates (far right) at SXSW.
JUNE 19, 2023__LOS ANGELES. BrainTrust Founders Studio, the largest members-only platform dedicated to Black founders of beauty and wellness companies, today announced the BrainTrust Fund, a planned $25 million venture fund. The BrainTrust Fund invests exclusively in early stage companies identified via BrainTrust Founders Studio, whose 120+ members collectively sold more than $100 million in products via 23,000 retail doors and online in the past year. [1]
“We designed the BrainTrust Fund as a ‘blue ocean’ investment opportunity to capitalize on innovation by Black entrepreneurs in beauty and wellness, whom we expect to continue to outperform as leaders of culture and creativity,” said General Partners Kendra Bracken-Ferguson and Lisa Stone, citing reports that fewer than 1% of venture capital investors are Black women and fewer than 1% of Black women founders are funded by the venture capital community.[2] “The BrainTrust Fund exists so that as the massive, multi-trillion-dollar beauty and wellness marketplace grows, Black founders, supported by Black funders and allies, may participate in creating and selling what shoppers want,” said Bracken-Ferguson and Stone.[3]
The BrainTrust Fund is:
Co-led by a diverse team of women who are experienced consumer operators and investors;
● Investing in beauty and wellness companies across 20+ sub-sectors, from fragrance to AI and technology;
Companies must have at least one Black-identifying founder as a member of BrainTrust Founders Studio, who seeks coaching and real advice from investors, and has repeatable revenues of $1+ million or more.
The BrainTrust Fund also announced a $1 million equity investment into Listener Brands, Inc., the parent company of hair care brands CurlMix and 4COnly created by Founder and Chief Executive Officer Kim Lewis. Listener Brands is the fourth investment by the BrainTrust Fund, joining a portfolio that includes BeautyStat, Thirteen Lune and Uoma Beauty.
“Kim Lewis grew Listener Brands into one of the top five Black-founded hair companies in the US because she’s an extraordinary entrepreneur and, like most Americans, has curly, wavy or coily textured hair and she wanted better products,” said General Partners Kendra Bracken-Ferguson and Lisa Stone.[4] “America’s beauty and wellness buyer is younger, more racially and ethnically diverse than ever before, and shopping for brands that serve their needs and their inclusive, sustainable values at a scale that speaks to a permanent shift, not a fad.” [5]
”The BrainTrust Fund team’s knowledge of retail, marketing and CPG already have made them valuable investors,” said Founder and CEO Kim Lewis. “As we continue to grow and expand the family of Listener Brands, I’m excited to tap into the expertise of the BrainTrust Fund community.”
BrainTrust Fund Investor Karla Martin, managing director and global luxury, retail and ecommerce lead for Deloitte, said that leading retailers and corporate acquirers are actively searching for solutions to consumer demand with products that are vegan, clean, and also racially and ethnically inclusive. “My clients are buying what they cannot build fast enough for today’s consumer,” said Martin. “The notion of beauty has expanded more in the last 10 years than the previous 40, including size, age, race, ethnicity and gender. And those new segments of consumers, and in particular younger consumers, want to feel more connected to the brands they use and want brands with clear purpose. I have two daughters, our kids read labels and they read the news. It’s not going to stop.”
The BrainTrust Fund, anchored by WestRiver Group, includes an accredited investor community that resembles beauty and wellness shoppers by design, fund partners said. Most identify as women (77%) and BIPOC (76%), and all are experienced leaders in today’s consumer marketplace, from beauty, wellness, and consumer packaged goods, to e-commerce, marketing, media, and funding and growing startups. Select BrainTrust Fund investors include: Chidinma Asonye, President, S by Serena; Tara Abraham, Founder and Chairwoman, Accel Inc; Erik Anderson, CEO, WestRiver Group, Valerie Antoine-Gustave, physician; Melanie Bender, CEO, rhode; Delivette Castor, assistant professor; Stephanie Chung, speaker; Jotaka Eaddy, CEO, FullCircle Strategies; Anne French, strategist; Beth Haggerty, Co-founder, Inflection Point Partners; Liz Jenkins, COO, Hello Sunshine; Luvvie Ajayi Jones, author; Karla Martin, Managing Director, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Pardis Nasseri, CEO and President, PalmTree LLC; Richelle Parham, President, Universal Music Group, Global eCommerce and Business Development; Thai Randolph, CEO, Hartbeat Enterprises; Dee M. Robinson, CEO, Robinson Hill; Bridgette L. Smith, CEO, Founder Playbook; Robert Thomas, CIO, George Kaiser Family Foundation; Igor Vaks, CEO, CreatorIQ; Beth Ward, CEO, Beth Ward Studios; Anne Clarke Wolff, CEO, Independence Point Advisors; and Julee Wilson, Executive Director, BeautyUnited and Beauty Editor-at-Large, Cosmopolitan.
About the BrainTrust Fund:
The BrainTrust Fund focuses on early stage investments in the beauty and wellness sector identified via BrainTrust Founders Studio, the largest platform dedicated to Black founders of beauty and wellness companies. Founder/CEO Kendra Bracken-Ferguson and Co-founder/Chief Investment Officer Lisa Stone are two known pioneers in creating consumer products and operating consumer platforms. The Fund targets beauty and wellness companies with at least one Black-identifying co-founder across 20 sub-sectors, from cosmetics to AI and technology. These companies must be members of the BrainTrust Founders Studio that demonstrate traction via $1MM+ in revenue from a market-tested MVP. www.braintrustfund.com
This is Kendra Bracken-Ferguson speaking at BrainTrust Fund SXSW event a few months ago.
[1] https://braintrustfoundersstudio.com/2023advance/
[2] https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/black-representation-in-the-beauty-industry; https://www.fastcompany.com/90870053/why-latina-and-black-women-founders-dont-receive-vc-funding;
[3] https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/press-room/statistics-and-facts/;
[4] https://www.allure.com/gallery/black-owned-hair-care-brands;
[5] https://store.mintel.com/report/us-diversity-and-inclusivity-in-beauty-market-report-2021;
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1289101/diversity-and-inclusion-as-the-most-important-beauty-brand-values- in-the-us;
