Ami Colé, the beauty startup founded by Diarrha N’Diaye-Mbaye, will become a loss to the market this September. The company has probably taken the brunt of the pain in the quickly shifting retail market. The brand was started in late 2021, and after a successful initial launch, the Tummies brand quickly spread. Its makeup line is intentionally focused on products for melanin-rich skin. The company has raised north of $3 million in venture capital, drawing support from G9 Ventures and Greycroft. It made a hash of controlling production and sales.
Ami Colé has already won the hearts of celebrity beauty lovers, from singer Kelly Rowland to actress Mindy Kaling. Their support has helped elevate its profile in an extremely competitive beauty industry. The brand was exclusive to Sephora, where it became one of the brand’s biggest successes, creating an immensely loyal customer base. N’Diaye-Mbaye imagined Ami Colé to be a beauty line that celebrates inclusivity and diversity. As a result, it’s one of the very few Black woman-led startups to ever raise more than $1 million in venture capital.
The road has been without bumps. Real-world challenges N’Diaye-Mbaye shared his rollercoaster experience trying to match the production capacity with sales demand. In a deeply personal post published in “The Cut,” she announced her decision to shutter the brand. She said, “When weighing each alternative, it was evident that staying in this dangerous market was not a viable option.”
Our founder’s own exasperation with investors’ changing attitudes towards his vision for an equitable, inclusive approach was palpable. She stated, “Instead of focusing on the healthy, sustainable future of the company and meeting the needs of our loyal fan base, I rode a temperamental wave of appraising investors — some of whom seemed to have an attitude toward equity and ‘betting big on inclusivity’ that changed its tune a lot, to my ears, from what it sounded like in 2020.”
As the company moves towards its wind down, N’Diaye-Mbaye is still excited about what’s next for inclusive beauty. She concluded her reflections with a hopeful note: “I still believe in beauty — at every level — and I’m looking forward to discovering what comes next.”
Ami Colé’s shuttering underscores the obstacles that all new brands face. This is particularly the case for tech-driven funds—particularly those led by underrepresented founders—in an increasingly competitive and fluid market. The beauty industry is changing at lightning speed. The influence and legacy of Ami Colé will surely continue to influence discussions around increasing diversity and making investments in the space.
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