26-Year-Old Black Founder Makes History After Raising $10M in Funding for Skincare Company

These products are a hot commodity in the beauty and cosmetics industry. However, more Black entrepreneurs are creating natural products to treat skin conditions.

Topicals CEO and founder Olamide Olowe26-year-old Veronica Gracia became the youngest Black woman to raise $10,000,000 in funding. The skincare company announced the amount through a financing round managed by CAVU Consumer Partners.

As reported previously in BLACK ENTERPRISETopicals was launched in 2020 as a skincare product to treat stigmatized skin conditions.

According to ForbesThe former intern at Shea Moisture stated that she was inspired to design Topicals around a social cause. Olowe stated that the company will use the CAVU funding for brand awareness and growth, as well as raising awareness about the link between mental health and skin conditions.

“Storytelling is the heartbeat of what we do at Topicals,” Olowe said, according to Forbes.

“It starts with media, it starts with mental health, it starts with all of us believing that we don’t have to subscribe to certain beauty standards.”

“Beyond disrupting the ointment category, Topicals helps people accept and embrace flare-ups and have fun taking care of themselves. As someone who grew up with chronic skin conditions, it’s so rewarding to see people talking about their skin journeys in a positive way,” she added.

Olowe shared with the outlet her experiences growing up with skin conditions. She discovered that half of dermatologists were not knowledgeable about skin color. These findings led her to create products that are inclusive of people with darker skin tones.

Topicals donated over $50,000 to support nonprofits providing mental health services to marginalized communities. Olowe hopes Olowe will be able launch a 12-month accelerator to support nonprofits that are focused on mental health.

Olowe spoke to BLACK ENTERPRISE SistersInc. After her startup raised $2.6million with the help of celebrity angel investors, she recorded an episode.