In partnership with
Namaste Brown Girl,
If last year was about breaking into rooms, this year is about owning them.
Brown women aren’t just building companies - we’re funding them, scaling them, partnering at top firms, and redefining what it means to not just be included, but to lead.
Welcome back to Brown Girls, Money Moves, your bi-weekly dose of the headlines, insights, and cultural shifts shaping business the brown girl way. This issue is part celebration, part education, and part gentle nudge to think bigger about the role you want to play in what gets built next.
Here’s what’s inside:
🔥 Spicy money moves across beauty, venture, wellness, and culture
💸 Brown women rising through the venture ranks
🎁 A Valentine’s gift guide featuring brown girl–founded brands
☕ Gupshup - the products, cultural moments, and community updates we’re bookmarking
Warm up your chai, get cozy and get ready to be inspired.
spicy money moves
👑
Consider this your official reminder that brown women aren’t waiting for permission - they’re shipping, scaling, and securing capital. From beauty and wellness to venture and culture, here are some of this week’s biggest money moves.
👑
💄 Ayurveda, now available on your mom’s fave TV network. Brown girl beauty brand and proud BGA portfolio company Sahajan officially launched on QVC, becoming the first Ayurvedic skincare brand on the platform.
🏆 Investors, take note. Brown girl investor Maha Malik, Partner at Bessemer, was just named one of Venture Capital Journal’s 2026 Rising Stars.
🧃 For founders looking to take the edge off, wellness beverage brand Juni just landed on Fox News’ roundup of Best Adaptogen Drinks to Try.
🎽 Growth looks good on her. D2C athleisure brand Cava Athleisure raised $4.4M in Series A funding, led by Sharrp Ventures.
🎵 Expanding the empire. Powerhouse investor Anjula Acharia launches 5 Junction Management and announces Rhea Raj as its first signing.
💰 The cap table is getting browner. Brown girl investor Shaherose Charania was featured in Business Insider’s roundup of women stepping into partner roles across VC.
We love celebrating brown girl wins ✨ Got a recent win, milestone, or shoutout you want us to know about? 📩 Submit your win by filling out this form and let the BGA community hype you up. 🤎
the brown girl founder’s club
Who’s funding the future? Brown girls are.💸
Four South Asian women just landed on Business Insider’s list of “37 Rising Stars of the Venture Capital Industry” — including BGA Collective member Shruti Kumar. 🔥
💰 Shruti Kumar - As Tusk’s sole non-partner investor, Kumar leads the firm’s outbound sourcing and diligence. Since joining Tusk in April 2025, the 28-year-old vice president has been hands-on with several of the firm’s recent investments, including AI healthcare startup Doctronic.
💰 Miloni Madan Presler - Madan Presler is a growth investor who started her career as a public health researcher and speaks four languages. Now a partner at IVP, she’s developed a reputation for her unusually thorough diligence.
💰 Ishani Thakur - Thakur, who graduated with a computer science degree from MIT in 2021, was a partner at Index Ventures before co-founding Hanabi Capital in 2024. Thakur works with early-stage companies at the forefront of AI and spends most of her time on product strategy and technical hiring.
💰Meera Oak - The youngest to make partner at Alumni Ventures at 33 years old, Oak (now 34), is focused on AI-native developer tools and infrastructure. She recently supported the firm’s investment in the AI developer platform OpenHands, which raised $18.8 million in Series A funding in 2025.
This is the future we’re building at Brown Girl Angels - more brown women writing first cheques, more founders getting early yeses, and a Collective that believes community > gatekeeping.
Curious about angel investing, but not sure where to start? If you’re a South Asian woman who wants to learn, connect, and explore angel investing - the Brown Girl way - learn more here.
✨Join us in 2026.
BGA gift guides
Roses are red, violets are blue, these brown girl-founded brands were made for YOU. 💕
From turmeric clay masks, to a coffee table book featuring South Asian wellness rituals, these gifts from brown girl-founded brands are perfect for your bestie, your lover, and you.
BGA news
We’re building a new home for Brown Girl Angels! 💃🏻
You’ve been loving all the wins and the founder stories we feature in this newsletter - and want more from Brown Girl Angels. We hear you.
Later this month, we open the doors to something we’ve been quietly building - a revamped space for the Brown Girl Angels community.
Think smart investing conversations. Unfiltered founder stories.
And the kind of curated financial education we wish existed sooner.
We’ve launched Brown Girls Chaat - a weekly series taking you behind the scenes of Brown Girl Angels.
If you’ve ever thought…“I want to engage with the Brown Girl Angels community”
This is for you. ✨
Here’s what to expect:
💡 BTS of Brown Girl Angels collective: the types of deals we’re seeing
📚 Investor education that actually makes sense
🎉 Member-only events with VCs and industry experts
⭐️ Stories and wins from our inspiring community of brown girl founders and investors
👉🏽 Forward this to your fave brown girl bestie before she hears about it from someone else.
GUPSHUP
💇🏾♀️ Recently, I’ve been using this brown girl founded hair brand, created as a sanctuary for those navigating hair loss, shedding, and life’s harder chapters.
🏡 Imagine planning a trip and staying in a real home. Not a flip. Not a hotel pretending to be cozy. A lived-in space, curated, trusted, and actually affordable. Have you tried brown-girl founded Kindred yet?
👀 Spotted: South Asians shining bright at the Grammy’s.
📣 Calling all founders, C-suite, and VP-level women. Talesplash x JAVEDA are looking for women to join their panel on March 12 in Austin, at SXSW in Austin. They’re looking for women who don’t just lead brands - they shape what leadership looks like at the intersection of motherhood, women’s health, and culture. Apply here.
💰Applications are now open for Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures. Their mission is to support early-stage startups and nonprofits that are building solutions for a more inclusive and sustainable future. Apply now.
🎙️ Season 2 of BGA’s podcast is launching this spring. Until then, here’s what you missed from Season 1 of Brown Girls, Bold Moves.
spread the love
💼Take your seat at the table. See what we’re up to in 2026.
💰 Your new home for brown girls building wealth, writing checks, and changing who gets funded and who gets to fund. Join our Substack.
🙋🏾♀️We love celebrating brown girl founders who are building bold, brilliant, and inspiring companies. Got something in the works or looking to raise soon? We’d love to hear from you.
🫱🏽🫲🏾If you’re looking to get your brand, product or service in front of a community of South Asian women who love to uplift, invest, and support each other—this is your sign. Reach out to learn more about our sponsored content opportunities.
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If you missed our poll last time, let us know now what you’re interested in!