Entrepreneur Shontay Lundy launched Black Girl Sunscreen in 2016 with a $33,000 investment.
And the company has just netted over $1.1 million.
According to AFROTECH, Lundy was inspired to launch the venture after her friends suggested she wear sunscreen while hiking in LA.
She searched for sunscreen products, but found that most didn’t cater to Black skin.
That’s when Lundy realized there was a gap in the market.
So, she set out to make a hydrating product without the white residue that many Black folk complain about.
Black Girl Sunscreen Is Made For The Black Community
When formulating the products, Shontay considered what was important to her and other Black women.
“There is a little bit of Shontay in all of my products. What was important for formulating these products was considering what is important for women of color and Black women. We don’t want anything to dry out our skin so while creating Black Girl Sunscreen, this and no white residue were the most important factors.”
Black Girl Sunscreen now offers several sunscreens and even launched a lip gloss made with jojoba, tripeptides, hyaluronic acid, and Broad-Spectrum SPF 50.
The brand’s products have been a hit.
Black Girl Sunscreen was available in 250 Target stores in 2019.
In 2020, the brand raised $1 million in private funding, which raised its valuation to $5 million.
By 2023, the brand had expanded to Ulta, Kohl’s, Walmart, and more.
Now, the brand has reached another milestone.
In its first three months on mega online retailer Amazon, Black Girl Sunscreen grossed $1.1 million.
However, Shontay had to remove bad apples that copied the brand’s likeness, image, and name.
Shontay shared on Instagram:
“So what’s new with Black Girl Sunscreen is that we hit $1.1 million today in about three months on Amazon.com…This is important because previous to us being on this platform, we had a lot of bad actors posing as Black Girl Sunscreen, literally using our images, our name, our likeness, and selling products as Black Girl Sunscreen. So we came on the platform and wiped them all out, and now we’re getting the money for us, for our business.”
The entrepreneur continued:
“So Black Girl Sunscreen, the 2-ounce, has sold 20,000 units in one month. 20,000 units. And when I think about that, I think that that could be going to an unauthorized seller. So that’s why it’s important to see what’s going on with your brand on these other platforms.”
