The investment makes Mented’s co-founders Amanda Johnson and KJ Miller the 15th and 16th black women in the U.S. to raise $1 million in venture capital.
Johnson and Miller launched their vegan, non-toxic makeup line in March. “Women of color were used to being treated as an afterthought,” Miller says. “Our end goal is that women of color feel prioritized in the world of beauty.”
Black women receive only 0.2% of venture funding and on average raise only $36,000 per startup, compared with $1.3 million on average raised by failed white male-run startups, Forbes reports. (A crop of venture funds are trying to shift more money to women-focused startups as a growing number of VC funds add women as partners and decision makers.)
Mented’s financing was led by iSeed Ventures, with Built By Girls Ventures, and Outbound Ventures.
