Launched: 2021
Key Executives: Diarrha N'Diaye-Mbaye, Founder + CEO
2025 Full Year Expected Revenue Range: <$10 million
2025 Projected Offline Distribution Points: 590+
Primary Category: Color Cosmetics
Key Markets: Metropolitan NYC; Los Angeles, CA; Washington, D.C.
Retail Partnerships: Sephora, Amazon, Thirteen Lune, Violet Grey, Sephora Canada
Primary Distribution Channel: Prestige
Other Distribution Channels: Amazon, DTC, Third-Party E-Commerce
Funding Rounds: Friends and Family, Seed, Venture Capital, Venture Debt
In September 2024, Ami Colé secured investment from L’Oréal’s BOLD venture fund.
According to Crunchbase, in September 2022, the brand raised $2.15 million from Backbone Angels.
In May 2021, Ami Colé raised more than $1 million in pre-seed funding from high-profile individuals, including Katherine Power, Lindsay Peoples Wagner, Hannah Bronfman, and Henry Davis, as well as Imaginary Ventures, Greycroft, and Debut Capital.
Notable Investors: BOLD (L'Oreal’s venture group), True Beauty Ventures, Greycroft, Kelly Rowland, Hannah Bronfman, Henry Davis
Ami Colé was born out of a genesis of many factors that shaped and continue to shape me until this day. Growing up in NYC, as a first generation Senegalese-American, sparked a lot of firsts and a deep passion to understand the “why.” My mother was a hair salon owner and key matriarch in the immediate Senegalese community. During my time growing up in the hair salon and navigating many cultural nuances of African and American cultures, I was on a constant quest to figure out where I fit in. I wanted to figure out where in the narrative of beauty were darker skin, textured stories, and vibrant culture celebrated and not transformed to meet the status quo. After years of “living this,” layered with 10 years working in the industry with an earnest effort to transform the space from the inside out, Ami Colé was born as a way to set a new status quo for beauty.
Insights provided by Diarrha N'Diaye-Mbaye, Founder + CEO
Key business initiatives for 2025?
In 2025, the key business initiative is focus. The goal for this brand is to live forever, beyond this generation and the next. The past three years have been about establishing market fit. In this next year, we are doubling down on things that worked for us—such as community, product innovation, and sunsetting operational inefficiencies.
What are you most proud of having accomplished?
I am beyond proud to be partnering with Sephora. As a student at Syracuse University, I worked part time at the Destiny USA mall where we opened the first ever Sephora in Syracuse, NY. I was deeply engraved in the culture of selling beauty at Sephora where training, education, and expertise were core to closing a good sale. Fast forward more than a decade, to now being fully distributed at Sephora is still a pinch me moment.
What has been the biggest surprise?
The biggest surprise for me is how much I’ve learned about myself as a founder. Every day is a challenge, especially as a mom of two young humans. I am learning what it means to balance and delegate all while scaling a promising business—I am most proud of this. As I look to people for inspiration, I look up to the likes of Bobbi Brown and Danessa Myericks who also raised small children while building multimillion dollar brands.
What fuels your competitive advantage?
At the core of Ami Colé is community. The brand lives outside of our website, outside of Sephora doors, and in real lives. I have personally been to brunch in a random spot in Brooklyn and watched two to three women pull out their Lip Treatment Oil to reapply after their mimosas. It’s something I’ve always aspired to do—to empower my community to see, celebrate, and uplift one another. This is what I witnessed growing up in my mom’s hair salon where there is a collective clap or “I see you girl” moment once your hair style is complete and you are feeling your best. Ami Colé is the conduit and connection between us that I don’t think exists with other brands.
Insight on the future of the beauty industry.
The future of beauty will continue to demand personalization. We are not a monolith; in fact, the world continues to grow more and more diverse. Not only in nationality but wants and desires. The industry will need to continue to offer something unique for everyone’s growing needs.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Just keep going. What I realize now is that it’s not the intensity in which you work—that just leads to burnout and resentment towards something you love—it’s about consistency. It’s about having the audacity to try again.
What is the best mistake you've ever made and what did you learn?
The best mistake I’ve ever made is thinking investor relations operate in a singular way. The investor/brand relationship needs to be equal parts of support and performance. I’ve realized the investors who would make the best long-term partners are those willing to be in the “trenches” with you.
What advice would you give to someone contemplating launching a beauty brand?
Understand your why and stick to it no matter what. People, retailers, and the industry will oftentimes try to oversimplify and categorize what you do or what you should do. If you don’t stand your ground, you will become just another brand taking advice from anyone. The two are known; love and listen to your audience and customers. They are the true drivers of why you exist and how you evolve.
If you could change one thing in the beauty industry what would it be?
I would like to evolve the diversity conversation to an equity conversation. We have a lot more work to do to really present and nurture an environment that has a little bit of something for everyone.
