At this point, everyone knows or can safely speculate that black culture influences the rest of the world, which ultimately drives revenue. Cross Culture Ventures recently released a report that gives concrete examples of just that.
One of their highlights was Rihanna’s beauty line, Fenty Beauty, which boasts the tagline “Beauty for all.” The line features 40 different shades of foundation in hues ranging from light to deep tones while other makeup lines completely neglected the darker tones in the market. “While other brands offer large selections and shades for foundation and makeup, the demand for darker shades seemed to take the industry by surprise. Shortly after the launch, it was widely reported that entire lines of the darker tones of the foundation had sold out,” stated the report.
It was later acknowledged by Newsweek that Rihanna brought in a whopping $72 million in one month from the line alone.
“Here at CCV, we believe that founders with a deep understanding of how the country is changing and who create solutions that solve the unique problems caused by these changes are startups that are worthy of investment,” said Marlon Nichols, a partner at Cross Culture Ventures, in a statement.
CCV is mainly focused on investing in diverse companies that are currently changing the world with technology at the forefront of their spectrum. Some of these companies include Catalyte, Hingeto, Mayvenn, and Ready Responders.
- Catalyte discovers amazing people from all walks of life and trains them to become full stack software engineers.
-
Hingeto is a technology company that provides solutions for retailers and brands to sell more product with reduced inventory risks.
-
Mayvenn is a mobile and logistics company that reduces the friction of purchasing hair products in inner cities.
All of which are minority founded and tech-enabled. With this thesis, CCV believes that there is plenty of room for more innovation, driven on the basis of culture, given the demographics of the world are changing rapidly, and they are willing to invest in it. Read the full report here.