How Richelieu Dennis Is Ensuring an Equitable Ecosystem for Black Entrepreneurs

On a rainy, but unseasonably warm Friday morning in mid-February, something historic happened.

A gathering of Black entrepreneurs—each representing their brands across different industries—convened at the Nasdaq office in Times Square for the opening bell ceremony. The ritual has long been for financial institutions, companies announcing an IPO, or other milestones garnering fanfare from the business world.

Which is why it was so monumental for the founders of Slutty Vegan, Mielle Organics and The Lip Bar to be there and why investor and entrepreneur Richelieu Dennis made sure they were.

“What you’re seeing is the manifestation of what our ancestors could not do,” Dennis told the group after an outdoor photoshoot where their logos and photos flashed across the famed building. “And so, we’re all here getting the opportunity to do that.”

This is about how you’re going to use that money to bring real sustainable joy and change to our communities.

—Richelieu Dennis, entrepreneur, investor

“Representation matters,” said Sehr Thadani, Nasdaq’s chief digital officer, who organized the event with Dennis’ New Voices Fund and Essence Ventures along with Skai Blue Media, which also included a post-ceremony panel discussions with some of the founders and funders in attendance.

Thadani told Adweek she planned to do similar events going forward.

“I cannot underestimate how important this is,” said Ceci Kurzman, founder of Nexus Management Group. “When you see Rich [Dennis] flashing these names up here, that’s really what allows people to be in a position … to be able to advocate for this consumer.”

Always betting on Black (entrepreneurs)

For Dennis, the day was the culmination of years of hard work that began at a card table on 125^th street in Harlem, where he sold soaps and shea butter. A business that, in 1991, would evolve into personal care company Sundial Brands. When Dennis sold the company to Unilever in 2017, he did so with the promise of establishing a $100 million fund to support other Black-owned businesses. He called it the New Voices Fund.

“We don’t have Black banks that are set up to fund us at scale,” said Dennis. “So, you can go up and down the things that are missing from the ecosystem.” 

A few weeks after the event, a wave of jarring news stories surrounding troubled banks began to hit, sending shockwaves through the tech and financial sector and panic among small business owners seeking capital. But as troubling as the news was for those affected and the public’s overall faith in the institutions, it proved Dennis’ point on the necessity and urgency of putting such an ecosystem in place. 

It is a privilege for us to partner with organizations that convene extraordinary companies. 

—Sehr Thadani, chief digital officer, Nasdaq

“But in order to build those things, you’ve got to have capital,” said Dennis. “We decided that we would unlock the wealth that we have built inside of Sundial and leverage that to go build these infrastructures and these resources.”

In the years since it was established, the New Voices Fund has built up a sizeable portfolio of diverse brands and has notably been instrumental in the recent growth of brands such as Slutty Vegan, the hugely popular plant-based fast-food chain founded by the charismatic Pinky Cole valued at $100 million. And Mielle Organics, the natural haircare company founded by married duo Monique and Melvin Rodriguez, which was acquired earlier this year by Proctor & Gamble for $100 Million.

The fund also counts the McBride Sisters Collection wine company and The Lip Bar, founded by Melissa Butler—whose vegan beauty brand famously defied naysaying Shark Tank judges to become the largest Black-owned beauty brand sold in in Target—as success stories. 

Dennis refers to himself as “head intern” when asked his role in the companies’ funding and acquisition journeys.

When New Voices was created, it was done exclusively for Black women, one of the fastest-rising founder demographics, who, according to a Project Diane report cited by Dennis, are the ones most likely to struggle to raise capital for their businesses, with fewer than 100 raising $1 Million. The fund initially partnered with his alma mater Babson College as well as the Tuck School of Business to establish minority entrepreneurship programs “tailored to Black women and their specific needs,” but soon saw a greater need to expand their offerings as graduates struggled to find funding and available resources.

“It became very frustrating to see the type of potential these women have,” said Dennis. “The types of problems they’re solving in our community. And the deliberate exclusionary practices that kept them out of the access to resources.”

The fund has since expanded its reach and support to include Black male founders, and follows a model Dennis calls PACE, which stands for “Purpose. Access. Capital and Expertise.”

In addition to being a godfather of sorts to budding Black entrepreneurs, Dennis is also the founder and chair of Essence Ventures, the parent company of Essence Magazine and its content and events umbrella, which now includes AfroPunk and BeautyCon. He is also co-founder and chair of Group Black.

Always room for more

“I think this is really monumental, what he’s created,” added Kurzman. “Whether they all are successes or whatever happens, it’s all a force multiplier for what’s going to happen. I think we’ll all be crediting Rich.”

Kurzman believes in the economic theory that competition is good for business: it leads to lower prices, higher quality and more innovation.

“There’s force in numbers because we’re illustrating the power of the consumer and the power of the business minds in this community,” he said.

Although he has been steadily amassing a vast brand and media empire, Dennis is adamant his endgame is bigger than business.