Rare Beauty Brands (parent company of Patchology and Dr. Dana), JCPenney and prestigious sponsors including Black Beauty Collective (BBC) and Black Girl Ventures (BGV) have launched LIFT Beauty Accelerator—a brand incubation initiative. 

 

LIFT Beauty Accelerator was created to empower female-identifying founders from underrepresented backgrounds. This year, the LIFT Accelerator will support five early-stage beauty brands from these communities with $10,000 grants, retail distribution, mentorship with beauty executives, and more.

 

Chris Hobson, CEO of Rare Beauty Brands, said, 

 

“At Rare Beauty Brands, we are deeply passionate about the transformative power of entrepreneurship and have been privileged to host incubator programs over the past three years. This year, we are thrilled to introduce our newly rebranded initiative, LIFT Beauty Accelerator. Working closely with past winners has been an incredible experience, and we are eagerly anticipating this year’s applicants. We are honored to collaborate with JCPenney and other amazing partners in our mission to uplift underrepresented founders in the beauty industry.”

 

Applications opened on June 3, 2024, and will close on July 18, 2024. The winners will be announced in late September.

 

Rare Beauty Brands and JCPenny will select five recipients who will receive a minimum of $10,000 each in funding. 

 

Winners will also have the opportunity to pitch to JCPenney for potential in-store or online product distribution and a one-year membership in the BBC and placement in Chicago and Los Angeles storefronts.

 

Rare Beauty Brands will offer a cross-functional team of experts to mentor winning brands with a focus on real-time needs for personalized guidance.

 

Winners will also receive claims support testing from Benchmarking Co, product testing from Validated Claims Support, product registration from The Good Face Project, retail Support Software & VOB from BeautyFluent, and a 1-Year Membership to the Independent Beauty Association.

 

Leslie Roberson, Founder and CEO of BBC, said, 

 

“I am thankful to Rare Beauty Brands and JCPenney for their commitment to bridging the gap for diverse indie beauty brands. Through partnerships like these, legacy retailers like JCPenney are not only leading the charge to support diversity across the beauty industry but are also directly impacting the baseline of independent brand owners through our mission to scale and grow historically underrepresented brands.” 

 

To enter brands must have Black and Brown Female-Identifying founders, between $10,000 and $1 million in annual revenue, be located in the U.S., operating in the beauty/personal care industry, and have fully developed products or services. 

 

See here for more information. 

L’Oréal Announces the Winners of the 2024 Inclusive Beauty Fund