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Dosso Beauty

Source: Courtesy of Kadidja Dosso / Dosso Beauty

Dosso Beauty, a Black-owned hypoallergenic braiding hair company, had won Pharrell Williams’ Black Ambition HBCU contest. Dosso Beauty’s founder, Hampton University graduate Kadidja Dosso, secured $250,000 after winning the Black Ambition HBCU contest’s grand prize.

The goal of Black Ambition is to “reduce barriers to capital” by providing funds to Black and Latinx-lead businesses that are “historically, deliberately, and painfully been excluded from access to growth capital for their businesses.”

“These are the founders I dreamed would represent Black Ambition,” Williams said in a statement according WAVY10.

“Today we celebrate their determination, resourcefulness, and creativity. Because of Black Ambition, the world will be much more equitable. More people of color can pursue their ventures and get what they need to thrive. There’s been too much disparity and discrimination. Black Ambition will continue to create and push for more seats at the table, so that your talent, not your color, determines your results.”

The HBCU prize that was won by Dosso was open to current and former college students that have either graduated or taken classes in the past two years.

Dosso told 13NewsNow that many doors were closed in her face as she tried to apply for grants for her business.

“I was bootstrapping with my money, my savings, she said. “I’ve gotten so many no’s from so many grants before.”

Having her own beauty company was a dream that Dosso, who hails from Philadelphia, had since her childhood. When she had to do an assignment during her senior year at Hampton, it pushed her to create her “Building the Dosso Organic Beauty Empire” business plan.

“Since I was 10 years old I said I wanted to own an organic beauty empire,” she said. “Then my senior year I had to do a report!”

The grand prize of $1 million was awarded to Livegistics, a Black-owned cloud-based software company that specializes in construction waste management business that is based in Detroit.

 

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