Meet the 52 Black women who raised $1 million or more in VC funding since 2021

Alexandra York,Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins,Shriya BhattacharyaMar 1, 2023, 03:19 IST

Ami Colé founder Diarrha N'DiayeKatherine Pekala

Before 2021, only 93 Black female founders had raised $1 million or more in venture capital.
Companies led by Black women typically receive less than 1% of all venture capital funding.
Insider is compiling a list of Black female founders who've raised $1 million or more in VC since 2021.

Black female founders in the US face many challenges, but one of the most detrimental is the lack of funding granted to them.

Before 2021, only 93 Black female founders had raised $1 million or more in venture capital, and prior to 2018 just 34 had done so, according to the most recent findings by ProjectDiane, a biennial report on the state of Black and Latinx women founders by the organization DigitalUndivided. What's more, companies led by Black women typically receive less than 1% of all venture capital funding, according to data from Crunchbase.

The fundraising environment has been a rollercoaster for Black founders since 2020. While there was an uptick in VC funding for Black-led startups in 2021 following the murder of George Floyd and the national racial reckoning that followed, that didn't last. Financing for Black business owners dropped 45% in 2022 due to changing market conditions, according to Crunchbase data.

Insider has been tracking the number of Black female founders in the US who have raised $1 million or more in venture capital since 2021. What's more, we asked how they approach the uphill battle and what advice they have for others looking to scale up through fundraising.

Kerry Schrader, a cofounder of the peer-to-peer engagement company Mixtroz, said many funders benefit from the optics of helping Black female founders without actually allocating capital to them.

"We have to remove the entire ceiling so that we all can have the same access without risking bleed-out as we pass through the shards of glass," said Schrader, who raised a $1 million seed round in May 2021. "The only way to fix the problem is to measure progress and be transparent with the results."

Below is a list of the Black female founders who have raised $1 million or more in VC since 2021, listed in order of their most recent funding amount. Insider intends to track and update this list throughout the year.

Dominic-Madori Davis and Miranda Perez contributed to an earlier version of this story.

If you're a Black female founder who's raised $1 million or more in VC funding this year, please contact Alexandra York at ayork@insider.com.

An earlier version of this story misstated the time period in which 93 Black female founders had raised VC funds of $1 million or more. That number described the amount of the years leading up to 2021, not in 2021 itself.

1. Cityblock Health — $400 million

Before becoming Cityblock's chief health officer, Dr. Toyin Ajayi led clinical programming at the Commonwealth Care Alliance.Cityblock Health

2. Savage x Fenty — $125 million

Before Savage x Fenty, Rihanna was a chart-topping singer best known for her hit singles "Umbrella" "Love on the Brain," and "Work" featuring Drake.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

3. Resilia — $35 million

Sevetri Wilson is a serial entrepreneur with a background in communications.Sevetri Wilson

4. Promise — $20 million

Phaedra Ellis-LamkinsCourtesy of Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins

5. Praxis Labs — $15.5 million

Praxis Labs has partnered with eBay, Zoom, Amazon, Google and Target to build more socially equitable workplaces.Makeda Sandford

6. Goalsetter — $15 million

Tanya Van Court is raising a multimillion-dollar Series A, which she hopes to close in October.(Courtesy of Tanya Van Court)

7. Partake Foods — $11.5 million

Before Partake Foods, Denise Woodard worked in the venturing and emerging brands unit of The Coca-Cola Company.Partake Foods

8. AllHere — $8 million

Before AllHere, Joanna Smith worked as a director at Excel Academy Charter Schools.Mamadi Doumbouya

9. Thirteen Lune — $8 million

Nyakio’s passion for beauty products began when her grandparents taught her how to create natural remedies at home.Robin Black

10. CodeSee — $7 million

Before CodeSee, Shanea Leven worked in product management at the tech companies Cloudflare, Docker, and Lob.Shanea Leven

11. Complyant — $5.5 million

Before founding Complyant, Shiloh Johnson was a tax advisor.@thebeautifullifenation

12. Five to Nine — $4.25 million

Jasmine ShellsCourtesy of Jasmine Shells

13. Katch — $4 million

Before Katch, Alessandra Knight was a development manager at Carpe Data.Alessandra Knight

14. Curastory — $3.8 million

Before founding Curastory, CEO Tiffany Kelly was a sports analytics associate at ESPN.Tiffany Kelly

15. Dispatch Goods — $3.7 million

Tekle and her cofounder Hoell lived off their savings to focus on building Dispatch Goods full-time.Dispatch Goods

16. Seventh Ave – $3.2 million

Prior to Seventh Avenue, Jones worked as a product marketing manager at Microsoft.Diaundra Jones

17. Autumn Adeigbo — $3 million

Autumn Adeigbo says that girls who wear her designs are the bright spot of every room.Autumn Adeigbo

18. Kanarys — $3 million

Mandy Price (left) and Star Carter, two of Kanarys' three cofounders. Before Kanarys, Price and Carter were attorneys.Kanarys

19. Ruby Love — $3 million

Crystal Etienne initially launched Ruby Love in 2015 under the name PantyProp, before rebranding the company in 2019.Crystal Etienne

20. Boddle — $3 million

Before Boddle, Edna Martinson was a market analyst at the real-estate firm Copaken Brooks.Edna Martinson

21. Stimulus — $2.5 million

Tiffanie StanardCourtesy of Tiffanie Stanard

22. Sugar — $2.5 million

Before Sugar, Fatima Dicko was a master's candidate at Stanford University.Fatima Dicko

23. Nourie – $2.5 million

Osahon OjeagaNourie

24. WorkChew — $2.5 million

Maisha Burt used her experience as a remote worker to build WorkChew, a platform that helps remote workers reserve spaces at participating hotels and restaurants.Maisha Burt

25. Guava — $2.4 million

Kelly IfillCourtesy of Kelly Ifill

26. Options MD — $2.35 million

Before Options MD, Morgan Hewett worked at Facebook as a client-solutions manager in Singapore.Morgan Hewett

27. Fave — $2.2 million

Jacquelle Amankonah Horton closed a $2.2 million seed round for Fave in May.(Courtesy of Jacquelle Amankonah Horton)

28. Rebundle – $2.1 million

Ciara Imani May is the founder of RebundleCurtis Taylor, Jr.

29. Waeve — $2 million

From left: Tiiso McGinty, Mary Imevbore, and Susana Hawken. Before Waeve, they were all students at Williams College.Waeve

30. Pressed Roots — $2 million

At Pressed Roots, “we focus on silk blowouts all day, every day. Because of that focus, we can commit to saving our customers time, money and effort,” Gaines said.Pressed Roots

31. YouGoNatural — $2 million

Monique Little, founder of YouGoNaturalMonique Little

32. Peero — $2 million

Dr. Rachel AngelCourtesy of Dr. Rachel Angel

33. MindRight Health — $1.78 million

Ashley Edwards is the first Black woman in New Jersey to raise $1 million in venture capital, according to Forbes.Ashley Edwards

34. Upgrade Boutique — $1.7 million

Before Upgrade Boutique, Britney Winters worked at Shell Corporation as an advisor.Britney Winters

35. The Folklore Group — $1.7 million

Amira RasoolCourtesy of Amira Rasool

47. Ami Colé — $1.69 million

(Courtesy of Diarrha N'Diaye)

36. Happied — $1.6 million

April JohnsonCourtesy of April Johnson

37. HUED — $1.6 million

Before HUED, Kimberly Wilson worked in social-media marketing.B. Alyssa Trofort

38. The Labz — $1.6 million

Farah Allen is also the cofounder of The Allen Group, a consulting group that specializes in software development.Farah Allen

39. Agapé — $1.6 million

Khadesha Okwudili is also a writer at the health magazine The Mighty and was previously a research intern at Weill Cornell Medicine.Khadesha Okwudili

40. Inaru — $1.5 million

Janett Liriano was previously recognized for her textile company Loomia.Janett Liriano and Erika Liriano

41. Quickhire — $1.4 million

Prior to Quickhire, Gladney worked in communications at Koch Industries, while Muhwezi-Hall was a student advisor at the University of Southern California.Deborah Gladney

42. The Mentor Method — $1.4 million

Before The Mentor Method, Janice Omadeke worked for the accounting firm PwC.Janice Omadeke

43. Goodfynd — $1.3 million

Abdulrazaaq believes that making the fundraising playing field more equitable for Black women founders starts by treating everyone equally.Derrick Bryson Taylor

35. Kushae — $1.3 million

Williams previously worked for The Coca-Cola Company and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals.(Courtesy of Kimba Williams)

45. AVEC — $1.2 million

Charlemagne believes oftentimes that not, a bulk of community build can happen over drinks.Sarah Hopp

46. LimeLoop — $1.2 million

Before LimeLoop, Chantal Emmanuel was a software engineer at the leadership firm SYPartners.Chantal Emmanuel

48. Healthy Roots Dolls — $1 million

Before Healthy Roots Dolls, Yelitsa Jean-Charles held jobs as a graphic designer. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2016.Yelitsa Jean-Charles

49. Mixtroz — $1 million

Kerry Schrader (left) and her daughter Ashlee Ammons. Before Mixtroz, Schrader worked in human resourcing, while Ammons worked in events management.Mixtroz

50. Health in her HUE — $1 million

Previously, Wisdom worked as a program director for advisory firm Junto Health.Ashlee Wisdom and Eddwina Bright

51. Agua Bonita — $1 million

Kayla Castañeda, who identifies as Afro-Latina, launched Agua Bonita with Erin PonTell in 2020.(Courtesy of Kayla Castañeda)

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