29 YEAR OLD JAMAICAN RAISES $6.9 MILLION TO
LAUNCH SKINCARE PRODUCTS FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS
QUEENS, NY - Jamaican born entrepreneur
Tristan Walker
(pictured),
a graduate
of Stanford
University, is
aiming to help
African-American
men who have
problems with
their facial hair by
designing a new
shaving system to
combat problems
they face with
hard stubble and
facial rashes.
The
29-year-old
who grew up
in Jamaica and
Queens, New York, said that he noticed there
is hardly anything on the market for people of
color and what is available is not suitable for
their type of skin.
With backing from organizations such
as Andreessen Horowitz, Upfront Ventures,
Collaborative Fund and Ron Johnson (former
senior vice-president of retail operations for
Apple), the young entrepreneur has raised $6.9
million to set up his new company Walker &
Co.
The company aims to be the Procter
& Gamble for people of color and he intends
to set up an online magazine to advertise
other products that the company will develop,
said Walker. He adds that the company’s first
venture is the “Bevel,” which is a revolutionary
shaving system aimed at the African-American
market.
According to Walker, “My experience of
going into a Walgreens or CVS and going to the
ethnic aisle, which is really a shelf, and having
to reach down to get a package that is dirty,
probably expired, with a photo of a 70-yearold bald, black guy in a towel on it, that entire
awful second-class citizen experience has to
go.” He continued, “Many African American
men have never shaved with a razor because of
problems stemming from coarse or curly hair.”
The Bevel retails for $60 for a six-piece
kit that includes shaving creams and salves to
help prevent rash while shaving and customers
can also choose to pay an extra $30 a month to
keep up with their requirements for the added
extras.
The aim of the company, according to
their official website, is to develop and test
various products that are designed specifically
for the African-American market. It adds that
this vision, combined with their promise of
delivering the best customer service, will
establish them
as the world’s
most consumercentric health &
beauty products
company on the
market.
Marlon
Nichols, a
venture capital
investor at Intelcapital and one
of the users of
Bevel, said that
he believes the
Bevel is the best
product for men
of color ever
invented. He
adds that it is the only system he trusts to shave
his head and neck without irritation.
NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT ENDS
INVESTIGATION OF 200 SCHOOLGIRLS’
KIDNAPPING
ABUJA, NIGERIA (AP) - According to multiple
news sources, despite the mounting pressure
faced by the Nigerian government to bring
back the remaining 219 missing schoolgirls
kidnapped by Boko Haram in mid April, the
official investigation has been closed. Brigadier
General Ibrahim Sabo submitted a final report
stating, “We are…pained that the schoolgirls
remain in captivity. The hostage situation that
this re