If you have a physical beauty product (either just an idea or something that has already launched) and can summarize your message, brand, and plan, you should apply for Glossier’s grant initiative!
At Glossier, we want to change how the world sees beauty—and changing how the world sees beauty starts with changing the beauty industry itself.
When Glossier launched in 2014, we were fortunate to be one of the rare female-founded businesses to successfully raise venture capital; that year, only 3.1% of venture dollars raised by US-based companies went to women. We are also keenly aware that a Black woman with the very same vision likely would not have received the same support. Black consumers wield an enormous amount of purchasing power, yet Black women have received only .0006 percent of the $424.7 billion raised in venture capital since 2009.
We must begin to address this inequity and support the next generation of game-changing companies. On May 30th, we committed to putting $1 million to work: $500K in donations to organizations fighting racial injustice, and another $500K in the form of grants to Black-owned beauty businesses. Starting today, the application process for those grants is open—Black beauty entrepreneurs based in the U.S. can apply for grants of $10K, $30K and $50K, depending on the stage of their business. Businesses that are selected will also have the opportunity to connect with relevant team members at Glossier for 1:1 advisory support and monthly calls with domain experts (think supply chain, packaging, content strategy, etc). We’ll also use our channels to introduce these founders, their stories, and their businesses to our community.
We’re focusing on companies that sell physical beauty products: cosmetics, skincare; products or tools for face, body and hair. We recognize that this is only one facet of the beauty world, but we believe it’s where we can have the most impact, especially when it comes to sharing what we’ve learned. Applications will be evaluated by a cross-functional internal panel consisting of colleagues from Into The Gloss, Creative, Finance and Community, led by our longtime Community Manager, Kim Johnson. Submissions will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
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Your Message (The Why): How your business aspires to broaden the conversation about beauty and lead with purpose
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Your Brand (The What): How your business shows up in the beauty space and what sets it apart from others
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Your Plan (The How): Your business’s plan for growth and how this grant will help it get there
Applications will be open until July 3rd. We know you’re busy, and we’ve done our best to make the submission process as streamlined as possible. We plan to inform all applicants about our decisions in August, and we can’t wait to share the stories of the grant recipients with our community shortly after. Depending on the stages of the businesses selected, we estimate that roughly 15 businesses will be selected to receive grants.
You can get started here:
I also want to acknowledge and own that when it comes to changing the beauty industry, we have meaningful work to do within Glossier. Last week, we shared that 43% of our corporate workforce identify as people of color, including 9% who identify as Black—and while 37% of our leaders, and 60% of our board, identify as people of color, we currently have no Black representation at the leadership level. Creating an inclusive beauty industry starts with taking a hard look at where Glossier falls short and actively working towards building an organization that better reflects the customers we serve and the world we want to see. We plan to start holding ourselves accountable publicly by sharing our progress on an annual basis.
Today belongs to the leaders of the future. We are humbled to play a small role in supporting those leaders’ missions, visions and successes, and can’t wait to amplify their stories.
Emily Weiss
Founder and CEO
