Winner
Olamide Olowe
CEO & Founder, Topicals
Olamide Olowe Is The Youngest Black Woman To Raise Over $14 Million in Capital
After her own struggles with acne, CEO Olamide Olowe founded science-backed skincare line Topicals to find a solution for darker skin tones. The Black-owned skin care brand is closing the gap in the market for chronic conditions like eczema, psoriasis, hyperpigmentation and acne by making products for skin tones of color that largely have not been tested in clinical trials. By the age of 26, the Nigerian-American entrepreneur had raised $14.8 million, becoming the youngest Black woman to raise this amount of capital. Behind the scenes, investors of the inclusive skincare line include Jay-Z, Kelly Rowland, Gabrielle Union, Yvonne Orji and Bozoma Saint John. The brand is “giving the industry a master class in creative marketing,” according to Elle, by selling an aspirational lifestyle along with great products, like its Slick Salve Lip Balm. Topicals promoted the product’s launch with a short film where Slick Salve is a decoy for pulling off an audacious heist — perhaps inspiring us all to be as bold as the brand’s history-making CEO.
By Cristina Cala
