"And the list continues to grow, not only as more brands warm up to TikTok Shop, which has been operating in the U.S. for more than two years, but as funding and retail commitments to Black-owned brands have waned over the same period, a phenomenon exacerbated this year by U.S. President Donald Trump's anti-DEI campaign. Data from Crunchbase shows that funding for Black-founded start-ups in the U.S. fell from $4.9 billion in 2021 to $700 million in 2024."
"Meanwhile in the last year, a number of Black-owned beauty brands have shuttered, among them Sknmuse, which sold at Nordstrom, and Ami Colé, which sold at Sephora and whose founder, Diarrha N'Diaye-Mbaye, has since been appointed as head of beauty at Kim Kardashian's Skims. Deon Libra, a wellness and body care brand that sells at Ulta Beauty, will meanwhile embark on a "pause" through at least December 2025, according to an Instagram story uploaded in early November by cofounder Devin McGhee Kirkland, citing low funds."
An ecosystem of fast-growth Black-owned beauty brands is forming on TikTok Shop, spanning emerging labels like Kayla Rowe's Her Fantasy Box and established lines such as LYS Beauty and BeautyStat. TikTok Shop adoption is rising even as venture funding and retail support for Black-founded start-ups have sharply declined, with Crunchbase reporting funding falling from $4.9 billion in 2021 to $700 million in 2024. Several Black-owned brands have closed or paused operations—examples include Sknmuse, Ami Colé, Deon Libra, and Glosshood—often citing low funds. Inequities in capital and anti-DEI political pressures are cited as drivers of the funding and retail pullback.
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