Glossier announced Thursday a new cohort of its Glossier Grant Program, which was established in 2020 to offer Black-founded emerging brands $50,000 and mentorship from the brand’s leaders on subjects ranging from supply chain operations to digital marketing.
The new class of grantees includes Christal Alert, founder of Tonal Cosmetics, a “sun-safe” makeup line; Natasha and Khadija Imara, mother-daughter duo and co-founders of the UnBraider, a comb for braid removal; Aasiyah Abdulsalam, who founded glueless wig line The Renatural; and Dr. Rosemarie Ingletin, founder of her namesake clinical skincare brand that caters to “melanin-rich skin.”
This year, Glossier expanded the programme to include a new award, the Alumni Award, which gives a former grantee $100,000 in funding as well as mentorship on scaling their business for growth. The winner is Alicia Scott, founder of Range Beauty, a skincare line for eczema- and acne-prone skin.
More than 60 percent of alums applied, according to Roya Shariat, Glossier’s director of impact, speaking to the need among Black founders to secure funding in an investment landscape that has grown conservative in recent years.
The move was a response to previous grantees voicing concern that their businesses were struggling due to a lack of institutional support. The Established, a Black-owned beauty brand Glossier had helped fund in 2021, recently shuttered due to financial pressures. Founder Essence Williams told BoF that she “ran out of money three times” over the course of four years.
“We cannot change the entire landscape of investing,” said Shariat. “My hope is that by reinvesting in the community and showing the power of these brands over time, [other investors] also see that they have a role to play.”
Scott’s curriculum under the Alumni Award will be tailored to her business needs, said Shariat. The four-month programme will focus squarely on retail expansion (Range Beauty inked a partnership with Sephora in 2023, following her completion of the retailer’s accelerator programme) and fine tuning operations. She said she hopes her participation in Glossier’s programme as well as her wholesale segment can be used as leverage when courting investors in the future.
“The goal post keeps getting pushed,” said Scott. “A lot of these investors that I had early conversations with wanted me to reach a certain amount in revenue. Then they wanted to see me go into retail and now they want to evaluate your first year [in] retail.”
Shariat says that Glossier plans to continue to set aside funding for its grant programme, which has expanded in recent years to allow applications from UK entrepreneurs. She hopes this will send a message to brands that made pledges to support Black founders at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 to not neglect their commitments.
“This work is enduring,” said Shariat. “To actually make an impact, you have to stay in it for the long haul, and don’t just hop in when it feels opportunistic and timely and hop out when you feel … that you have checked that box. This isn’t a box to check.”
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