The second meaning of the dictionary for the black women says, “the subject of the extreme abuse and oppression based upon their color or fault perception of inferiority by the oppressor.” The black color is enough for any discrimination.
When such black women-only become the richest in the world, their stories should be discussed and read. Here are descriptions of the top 8 black women entrepreneurs among all the amazing women who fought through all odds and never allowed anyone to become their obstacle.
1. Oprah Winfrey
When women entrepreneurs are mentioned, Oprah Winfrey has to be on the list. Oprah Winfrey is a Talk Show Host, TV Producer, Author, and a big-hearted Philanthropist. She had donated over $400 million for educational causes and many more millions for other reasons.
She must be done into every phase of life, from being born in a rural poverty area to becoming a millionaire at 32. Oprah has also defeated life problems like extreme poverty, racism, parental neglect, and sexual abuse.
Today, she is the host of her show called “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and she is the richest black woman in the world.
2. Folorunso Alakija
Folorunso Alakija is a Nigerian Entrepreneur who has her name established in Fashion, Oil, Real Estate, and Printing industries. Her first-ever venture was Supreme Stitches. She later got involved in the Oil industry when her company, Famfa Limited, was granted Oil Prospecting License (OLP).
The Nigerian Government snatched a big part of her company’s stake, arguing over her massive income from OLP. However, Folorunso fought the Government in court for 12 years and eventually won the case. As of today, Folorunso is the richest black woman in the world. She works as the GMD of The Roses of Sharon Group and Executive VC of Famfa Oil Limited. She is the richest Nigerian woman in the world.
3. Asmau Ahmed
As a teenager, fighting for her color recognition, she went to many unsuccessful searches of makeup and clothing stores to look best. To look perfect is the priority for any woman. But Asmau Ahmed did not want to look best just because she was a girl but because she was black. She needed social acceptance and recognition.
For the sake of her battles, she never compromised on her studies.Today she holds the degree of MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS with honors in chemical engineering from the University of Virginia. Graduating through universities never let her passion down for beauty.
Taking technology as a solution to her problem, she became the founder and CEO of Plump Perfect. Plump perfect is an app that scans the selfie of an individual and gives the perfect makeup per a girl’s skin tone.
Today, she has raised the funding of $10 million becoming one of the richest black women in the world. Now she is not only socially recognized but became an inspiration for all her peers.
4. Angela Benton
Angela Benton is commonly known as American Business woman born on 22 May 1981 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. She has taken her education from The Savannah College of Art and Design. Angela and her ideas were not accepted by society because of her color.
She fought for her rights and came with the idea of supporting many other women like her. Today she is the founder of NewMe. NewMe is the popular accelerator for entrepreneurs of color founded in 2011 and launched in Silicon Valley. It acts as a catalyst for start-ups. What makes NewMe unique is that the team is not looking for high tech start-ups but great ideas.
Angela founded the program as she has experienced and saw the lack of support for underrepresented ideas for start-ups. In 2017 NewMe moved to Miami headquarters. NewMe, led by Angela and her team, has successfully helped $45 million in venture funding for entrepreneurs.
5. Cashmere Nicole
Cashmere’s life is no less than a battlefield. She became a mom at 16 in 2011, is a cancer survivor and a founder, CEO, and president of Beauty Bakerie, a cosmetic brand. In her teens, she raised a child and was working as a nurse to make her livelihood.
Once her nurse’s job gets done for a day, she spent the other half of her day with her start-up. In 2012 she met with devastating breast cancer disease.
Before her death, she accepted her death and started preparing her funeral. But her unconditional love for her daughter never allowed her to give up. She fought all the breast cancer and an improbable reason for liking it. She says she loves the pink color.
Her cancer not only left her but also gave her a unique idea that she can add in her beauty products. Today she has raised the total funding of $7.6M. Her cosmetic brand Beauty Bakerie includes healthy ingredients to cover a wide range of makeup matching any skin tone.
6. Kimberly Bryant
Kimberly Bryant was born 14 January 1967, in Memphis, Tennis. She is an African American electrical engineer who worked in biotechnology at Genetech, Novartis, Vaccines, Diagnostics, and Merck. Though she was highly successful in biotech, today she is known for Black Girls Code.
Although it is the harsh reality, at the same time, black girls are indeed deprived of opportunities almost in every filed. To pay her contributions, she founded a non-trust profit organization Black Girls Code, in 2011.
She and her team offered to teach courses for basic programming concepts for black girls underrepresented in technology areas and pursue technology.
7. Jessica Mathews
Jessica Mathews was born on 4 July 1946 in the United States. She is a Ph.D. student and has completed her studies from the California Institute of Technology.
For 18 years, she served as Carnegie’s president. She did her duties in both executive and legislative branches of Government. Also, in the non-profit arena in the field of research and management.
She has published her journals in scientific research and co-authored and co-edited three books. But today, she is known for power generation. She is the founder, CEO of Uncharted Power.
At 19, Jessica invented a Soccket Ball, a soccer ball that generates power when played. So far, she has raised the funding of $12.5M. Being rich, she also comes under “10 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs”. At 26, she also became the executive director of KDDC, a hydropower dam in Nigeria.
8. Reham Fangirl
Creating the solution for a problem by starting start-ups leads to your great success. Reham Fangirl did the same. She is the founder and CEO of AptDeco. Great Oaks Venture Capital, Y Combinator, SV Angel. AptDeco is a fantastic platform where you meet with genuine buyers and sellers for furniture.
This is an online platform where the team of AptDeco ensures safe delivery and pick-up of the table from the door itself. The headquarters of AptDeco is in New York. Reham Fangirl has raised the total funding of $2.5 million through his start-up AptDeco.
Final Words | Black Women Entrepreneurs
Kunbi Tinuoye, founder and CEO of UrbanGeekz, Natassia Malaihollo founder and CEO of Wyzerr, Sheena Allen founder and CEO of CapWay, are some of the other wealthiest black women entrepreneurs. Through their life battles, they have not only earned their status but also hiked the rank of Black Women in society.
People do discriminate against black people. But these women were strong enough to prove those people wrong about both women and color.
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