In July 2025, Ami Colé, a venture-backed beauty brand focused on makeup for darker skin tones, announced it would permanently shut down by September. The company, which had raised over $3 million from investors like G9 Ventures and Greycroft, cited unsustainable market conditions and tensions between founder Diarrha NDiaye-Mbaye and investor expectations. Despite early success and celebrity endorsements, the four-year-old startup struggled with inconsistent retail sales and competition from larger brands. The closure reflects broader challenges for Black-founded startups that surged after 2020, as investor enthusiasm for diversity-focused ventures waned.
