Black-Owned Beauty Brand Ami Colé to Close

Award-winning beauty startup Ami Colé is set to shut down later this year, according to its founder.

The founder, Diarhha N’Diaye-Mbaye, was one of the first Black women to raise more than $1 million in venture capital.

What is Ami Colé

Ami Colé creates makeup for individuals with darker skin tones, as they often struggle to find cosmetics that match their skin color. It launched in 2021, selling through Sephora, and became a celeb favorite among the likes of singer Kelly Rowland and actress Mindy Kaling. Ami Colé, a four-year-old company, will shut down in September.

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Writing about her decision, N’Diaye-Mbaye said, “…after looking at every option, it became clear that continuing in this current market wasn’t sustainable.” Ami Colé has raised more than $3 million in venture capital, according to PitchBook. 

The company received significant backing from the likes of G9 Ventures, Greycroft, and angel investors like Hannah Bronfman and “The Cut” editor-in-chief Lindsay Peoples Wagner. 

Why Ami Colé is Closing Down

Many Black startups launched after the murder of George Floyd received significant attention and investment from investors and corporations seeking to support diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. 

Ami Colé was one such startup that benefited from this trend, riding the wave of excitement and investment. But that excitement didn’t always translate into long-term support.

N’Diaye-Mbaye hinted that one of the challenges the brand faced was a disconnect between her vision and investors’ expectations for a consumer retail business. Despite having a loyal customer base, the brand’s rapid nationwide growth created pressure from investors. 

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Moreover, competing with larger companies with more substantial resources proved difficult, even with significant marketing investments. Like many retail businesses, Ami Colé struggled with the unpredictable nature of sales, experiencing fluctuations in demand from one week to another.

“Instead of focusing on the healthy, sustainable future of the company and meeting the needs of our loyal fan base, I rode a temperamental wave of appraising investors — some of whom seemed to have an attitude toward equity and ‘betting big on inclusivity” that changed its tune a lot, to my ears, from what it sounded like in 2020,” she said. 

What is The Next Thing 

The beauty brand’s closure comes amid a broader decline in venture funding for Black founders, which, according to Crunchbase, has dropped to its lowest level in years at 0.4%. As the political backlash against DEI initiatives intensifies, securing long-term investment in Black-owned businesses has become increasingly challenging.

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Although her company is closing, N’Diaye remains optimistic about the future: “I still believe in beauty — at every level — and I’m looking forward to discovering what comes next,” she claimed. 

Despite the shutdown of Ami Colé, the awareness and impact the brand created for underrepresented consumers, who are often neglected by big companies, are obvious. Furthermore, some Black founders in the beauty industry, like CurlMix, are getting creative about alternative sources of funding. 

Main Image: Diarrha-NDiaye Mbaye, founder of Ami ColéPhoto: Katherine Pekala