Venture firm Pronghorn, an initiative focused on boosting Black entrepreneurship in spirits, announced yesterday new investments in four more companies: Greenwood Whiskey, Red Hazel Whiskey, TCapri Tequila, and IslandJon Vodka. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.
These latest moves are part of what has been a busy year for Pronghorn so far. To kick off 2023, the company announced an investment in cocktail mixer and beverage brand Hella Cocktail Co that also brought on the company’s co-founder, Jomaree Pinkard, as Pronghorn’s new CEO and managing director. It followed with investments in four other Black-owned spirit brands last month.
“Pronghorn continues to disrupt the fundamental relationship between venture capital and Black entrepreneurs,” Pinkard said in a statement. “This cohort of innovative and award-winning founders is an exciting next chapter in our mission, and all share the type of dynamic brand and product narrative essential to succeed in today’s crowded marketplace.”
Focused on cultivating the next generation of Black entrepreneurs, leaders and founders within the spirits industry, Pronghorn aims to fill 1,800 industry roles and make 57 Black-owned brand investments within the next 10 years. Prior to today’s announcement, the firm has so far backed nine other Black-owned brands since it launched last February such as Ten To One, Tequila with Friends, Den of Thieves and Delta Dirt Distillery. The portfolio now houses a mix of spirits, dominated by tequila and whisky, and a range of companies in various stages.
New addition IslandVodka was founded by singer-songwriter Levi John and his son Kevin John in 2015. Inspired by the duo’s Caribbean roots, the vodka comes in flavors of mango and peach nectar, guava, and a reserve expression. The company is distributed in seven states, and will use the initial investment to support inventory and product line extension, said Kevin John.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to scale and strategically look at the business, market to market, and maximize opportunities to drive awareness,” John said.
Pronghorn’s capital investment in the brands will also be supplemented with access to its accelerator program, which includes consulting services from industry experts. Tiffany Capri Hainesworth is aiming to make her company, TCapri Tequila, a global brand with the “guidance and support of Pronghorn’s mentorship.” Hainesworth is the first Black woman to solely own a tequila company, and joins other Black women tequila founders in the portfolio, Ego Tequila and Anteel Tequila. Founded in 2018, Hainesworth aims to boost the ultra premium tequila’s footprint and launch an añejo expression within the next few years.
“Pronghorn’s investment will enable me to grow brand awareness, expand to new markets and drive more sales,” she said.
Another female founded brand also received an investment this round: Red Hazel Whiskey, created in 2020 by TK Burtin-Johnson and her brother Ty Burtin.
Several of Pronghorn’s portfolio members lead their brand stories with celebrations of Black entrepreneurship.
Greenwood Whiskey is a premium rye whiskey brand founded by four men who were inspired to pay homage to Black Wall Street, the historic Greenwood District neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma that was home to 600 Black-owned businesses in the early 1920s. Elsewhere, Old Hillside Bourbon was launched by four high school friends, and pays homage to both a Black jockey who played a pivotal role popularizing the Kentucky Derby and the founders’ roots in Durham, North Carolina, where a lesser known Black Wall Street once thrived in the early 20th century.
Pronghorn’s research has shown that while Black Americans represent 12% of alcohol consumers across categories, they make up just 7.8% of the sector’s labor force and 2% of executives in the industry. Other programs aiming to close the representation gap in spirits include Fawn Weaver’s Uncle Nearest Fund and The Entrepreneurial Spirit Fund by Sia Scotch Whiskey, which provide mentorship and investments to beverage entrepreneurs of diverse backgrounds.