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#TSRPositiveImages: SheaMoisture’s Founder Launching $100 Million Fund To Support Women Entrepreneurs Of Color

TSR STAFF: Christina C! @cdelafresh

#TSRPositiveImages: Let’s get these innovative ideas ready, ladies! Richelieu Dennis, who is the founder of SheaMoisture, announced a $100 million fund for women entrepreneurs of color Thursday at the 2018 Essence Festival.

Through the New Voice Fund, Dennis says they have already invested or committed to over $30 million in black women entrepreneurs, Black Enterprise reports. When Dennis sold SheaMoisture back in 2017, he vowed as part of the deal that he would use the money to create an investment fund for minority entrepreneurs, specifically women of color.

Dennis is going beyond providing investment opportunities with the fund by giving women access to resources to boost the success of their companies. Women entrepreneurs of color are an underserved group, receiving less than 3 percent of venture capital dollars in 2018, despite black female founders starting businesses at higher rates than any other group.

We can’t wait to see what our women will create for this world!

Christina Calloway