Showing 2 results for:

Initialized Capital

by Topic

All results

2
Natural Haircare Startup Secures $1M in Funding Backed by Alexis Ohanian's Initialized Capital

As a Black woman going to the hair salon is a part of self-care. Whether you go once a week, month or year, it is an experience that has probably been ingrained into your routine since a child. For Natanya Montgomery, the first time she remembers visiting the hair salon was at seven-years-old and according to TechCrunch , she’s been going once a month for 18 years. Now, she’s the founder and CEO of Naza Beauty , what Megan Rose Dickey referred to as a “Drybar but for women of color.” The salon — which recently secured $1 million in funding backed by Alexis Ohanian’s Initialized Capital —  offers 25 variations of five different protective styles including crotchet, sew-ins, twists, blowouts, and braids. Although the salon does not offer any coloring services, chemical treatments or hair cuts, they do promise to have you out of the chair in either four hours or less. Naza Beauty “More and more people are seeing that these styles are valid, real and beautiful,” she said. “A lot of...

Feb 19, 2020

This Founder Wants to Bring Banking to the Palm of Your Hand

Everyone doesn’t have the luxury of going to a local Bank of America to cash a check or a Chase Bank to create a savings account. In many rural communities across the U.S., there are significant hurdles to accessing banking services. Sheena Allen, a rural Mississippi-native and the founder of CapWay, wanted to bridge the gap for unbanked communities with her app. CapWay is a mobile banking service that allows users to cash checks, set up checking accounts, and send money straight from their phones. Allen knows from experience what it is like to live in a one-bank town. She attributes her life in Terry, Mississippi, a small town outside of Jackson, as the inspiration for her newest venture. “Jackson has some of the highest rates of unbanked residents in the United States,” Allen said. “I was very familiar with people not having fair or proper access to mainstream financial services and products.” It was common to see people in her community cashing checks at grocery stores and payday...

Dec 16, 2019