Vegan businesses Black Leaf Vegan and Mama Roots are among the 50 small businesses award grants by actor Kevin Hart.
Comedian, actor, and entrepreneur Kevin Hart is adding a new title to his already impressive resume: philanthropist. Last month, Gran Coramino Tequila—a tequila brand co-founded by Hart and Juan Domingo Beckmann, an 11th generation tequila maker—announced the grantees of The Coramino Fund’s small business grant program.
The Coramino Fund, a partnership between Gran Coramino Tequila and national nonprofit Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), was established to uplift and support small, Black- and Latinx-owned businesses that have long been marginalized and blocked from accessing capital and resources necessary for growth.
Grants totalling $500,000 were allocated and equally dispersed among 50 winners. Among the lucky recipients are Black Leaf Vegan (a plant-based café located in Indianapolis, IN) and Mama Roots (a vegan food truck based in Duluth, MN)—two businesses focused on bringing healthy, vegan options to their communities while educating consumers about the benefits of a plant-based diet.
“[Beckmann] and I always knew we wanted Gran Coramino to have a give-back component that focused on providing Black and Latinx entrepreneurs with resources to pursue their small business dreams,” Hart said in a statement. “Teaming up with LISC last year to launch The Coramino Fund in the US was the start of that journey.”
Among the 50 winning businesses, 50 percent are Black-owned, 36 percent are Latinx-owned, and 14 percent are Black- and Latinx-owned. At 68 percent, women-owned businesses make up a large majority of the grant recipients.
Source: vegnews.com
