Founder Richelieu Dennis of SheaMoisture haircare and skincare products has declared that a fund of $100 million for women entrepreneurs of color on Thursday at the 2018 Essence Festival.This exciting news surrounds the New Voices Fund which he has been working on for the past year.“About six months ago, we announced that we were launching the new voices fund”

Image credit

Dennis informed the audience at the press convention during the Essence Festival.Previously reported back in 2017, SheaMoisture was sold to Unilever by Dennis and as part of the deal, he vowed to create and invest fund from the capital of the sale for minority entrepreneurs, specifically women of color.The creators of SheaMoisture agreed to contribute am initial investment sum of $50 million along with Unilever and Sundial Brands. Dennis is looking to the future by pushing to equip these entrepreneurs with all the resources they need to help their companies succeed in addition to the creation of the funding that provides investment opportunities.

Image credit

Lately there's been a great push to find ways to get and offer women of color the financing they need to launch businesses.Studies show, that in 2018 less than 3% of VC dollars was received by women founders. In recent years, investment in black female founders—who have been starting businesses at higher rates than any group, so they’re easy to find—was scarcely discernible, was hardly at .02%.

Image credit

Arlan Hamilton, founder and a managing partner of the venture fund Backstage Capital recently announced her new $36 million fund will be invested exclusively into black women-led startups.The New Voices Fund furnishes a way for women of color entrepreneurs to approach Dennis for capital infusion, he is more than likely looking at businesses that is looking to scale.