BrainTrust Founders Studio is a membership-based community platform that incubates new promising beauty and wellness brands, provides an ecosystem for existing Founders ensuring their growth and sustainability and invests in subsequent Founders who are primed to accelerate their own potential and prepare for follow-on capital. Whether you are starting, growing or at the point of acceleration, BrainTrust Founders Studio has an ecosystem of resources and capital to support your business.

The past year has been a watershed for Black entrepreneurs and more new Black-founded businesses were started over the past year than in the past 25 years. The renewed activism in support of greater diversity and equity across all aspects of society in 2020 led many brands and retailers to diversify their teams and shelves. New organizations and initiatives such as Pull Up For Change and the 15 Percent Pledge have also helped to create an unprecedented opportunity for Black founders.

To maximize this opportunity, Black founders need access to critical business support, education and mentorship resources, capital, and scaling capabilities. It’s shockingly true that only 4% of Black-owned businesses in the US survive past the start-up stage even though 20% of Black Americans start businesses. More than 9 out of 10 Black founders lack investment/working capital, while 77% lack mentoring and business management support, three-quarters lack pathways to distribution channels, and more than half lack access to suppliers and marketing services support.

Knowing that a pipeline of successful, Black-founded beauty and wellness brands would change the paradigm within the $500 billion global beauty and wellness industry, we started BrainTrust Founders Studio as a scalable way to create parity and equity by providing additional business, financial, marketing and technology brain power through a global ecosystem and community of like minded founders.

• Create inclusive economic opportunities

• Increase business performance

• Build sustainable pathways for growth

• Develop a connected community of founders

Creating an ecosystem to support Black Beauty and Wellness Founders

Whether you are a start-up testing a new product or a seasoned business with retail distribution and post investment, we have the right membership tier for you. Our platform combines artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automated business systems to match Founders with supporting resources and relevant partners based upon their individual profiles and goals. Your thoughtfully completed application will help us to place you in the appropriate tier.

The BrainTrust Founders Studio was designed for the specific needs of Black Beauty and Wellness Founders who are redefining the future of Black entrepreneurism.

Membership in the Founders Studio provides a community and ecosystem that unlocks much-needed resources and access to our Knowledge Salon to help grow and scale your business. Our mission is rooted in 4 key pillars – Community, Mentorship, Education, and Capital.

Incubated in BrainTrust, the Founders Studio was designed for the specific needs of Black Beauty and wellness Founders who are redefining the future of Black entrepreneurialism.

Membership in the Founders Studio provides access to a community and ecosystem that unlocks much-needed resources and access to our knowledge salon to help grow and scale your business.

• Build meaningful relationships with Founders who are like-minded and relatable

• Leverage business and financial resources

• Connect with executive coaching and mentorship

• Join curated events and roundtable discussions

• Unlock manufacturing, distribution and marketing alliances

• Gain access to capital

• Must be Black identifying (if a partnership, at least one Founder must meet this criterion)

• Have a controlling equity stake in the company

• Be in the beauty and wellness industry

• Commit to paying their membership forward once they exit the studio by providing feedback and insights to the next generation of Founders

• Agree to Code of Conduct Community Governance