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Hispanic Heritage Month started on September 15 and will run through October 15. And, with so much progress in the minority-owned business space in recent years, there are plenty of Latinx-owned beauty brands to support.
Similar to Black-owned brands, however, Latinx founders often face the same roadblocks when attempting to grow and scale their businesses. According to a meta-analysis from nonprofit organization SCORE, 39.3% of Hispanic entrepreneurs say access to financing remains an obstacle, compared to 18% of white small business owners. And though there is no recent specific data around Latinx funding in beauty, according to Crunchbase, in 2021, only 2% of Latinx-founded brands received venture capital funding.
“I hope that the gatekeepers of capital will eventually acknowledge the increasing purchasing power of the Latinx community and subsequently work toward improving access to capital for these entrepreneurs,” said Mike Modula, former Sephora executive and co-founder of skin-care brand Sepia. “By recognizing the immense potential that lies within these communities, we can build a more inclusive and equitable future that empowers Latinx founders to thrive.”
With accelerator programs geared toward BIPOC beauty founders, including Sephora Accelerate, Credo for Change, Ulta Beauty’s MUSE Accelerator and Tower28’s Clean Beauty Summer School, access to funding, resources and mentorship has become a reality for more Latinx founders. With the valuable tools needed to run a successful business, more Latinx founders have crossed the million-dollar funding threshold. Among them are Ceremonia’s Babba Rivera, Common Heir’s Angela Ubias and Maude’s Éva Goicochea.
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Consumers are also benefitting.
“Latinx-owned brands offer a diverse range of exceptional products infused with innovative ingredients and captivating brand stories,” said Modula, who is half Mexican-American. “I often compare it to the experience of exploring cuisine from different cultures. By limiting ourselves to what’s familiar, we may miss out on discovering the incredible offerings that exist beyond our comfort zones.”
Explore just a few of the innovative Latinx-owned beauty brands below.
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Sepia
Created by Mike Modula, a former Sephora executive, and Anna Bueno, a clinical researcher, Sepia is on a mission to bring more inclusivity to clinical skin care. The brand launched in August with the Eventide Retinol Renewing Serum as its hero product.
Rizos Curls
Navigating curly hair as a woman of color is no easy feat, which is why Julissa Prado decided to launch clean, sustainable Rizos Curls in 2017. Her goal was to empower brown and Black Latinx curly consumers to embrace their natural hair texture and learn how to properly care for their hair.
Ceremonia
If you live on BeautyTok, chances are you’re aware of Ceremonia. Founded in October 2020 by Babba C. Rivera, the clean hair-care brand integrates Latin-American-sourced natural ingredients in all of its products.
Daybird
When Daybird launched in May 2022 with a 4,000-person waitlist, founder Whitney McElwain knew she had something special. The beauty brand’s sole product, Tinted Skincare, is a 4-in-1 formula that acts as a serum, a moisturizer, a mineral SPF 50 and a sheer foundation.
Day Rate Beauty
After working as a celebrity hairstylist for two decades, Aviva Jansen Perea noticed a gap in the hair-care market for hairpins. There were no sustainable or diverse pins that blended with a range of hair colors. So, in June 2022, she launched Day Rate Beauty. The brand’s products are plastic-free and recyclable.
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