Producer and rapper Pharrell Williams combined his entrepreneurial spirit and activism with the launch of Black Ambition in December 2020, when he launched an incubator for Black and Latino entrepreneurs launching startups in technology, design, healthcare, and consumer products.
Black Ambition is a nonprofit initiative working to close the opportunity and wealth gap through entrepreneurship with a set of awards to fund bold ideas and companies led by Black and Latino entrepreneurs.
The Black Ambition Award competition is a set of two awards, the General Award track and the HBCU Award track. The 2022 cohort of 249 semifinalists participated in a 3-month mentoring program. The initiative provides founders with peer learning, curated training and networking opportunities.
The semifinalists were then whittled down to 50 finalists. Companies partnered with a launch coach for online and in-person launch training, and access to graphic designers who helped update launch pads and other marketing materials to use beyond the Black Ambition Prize competition to enroll in other accelerator programs and venture funds.
“We are very proud of all these entrepreneurs who have gone through the Black Ambition Award program, and it is amazing to see these ideas and businesses come to life,” said Black Ambition founder Pharrell Williams.. “Black Ambition paves the way for Black and Latino entrepreneurs to turn their Mighty Dream into reality.”
This year, Black Ambition awarded $2.5MM to 31 founders, saw a 20% increase in applications, with those applicants generating over $405M in revenue and raising $72M in capital to date. Beauty startup Pound Cake Cosmetics took home the top prize, a financial prize of $1 million, with four other beauty brands making the final cut.
Pound Cake founder Camille Bell shared: “For the first time on this entire journey, I have finally felt seen and heard. And that’s thanks to everyone at Black Ambition. Seeing three black and brown faces staring at me on the judging panel on demo day was such a surreal moment, and I don’t take it for granted. I don’t know of any other program out there like this one that really takes the time and cares to fully support Black and Latino entrepreneurs in all facets.”
Source: news.google.com