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Namaste Brown Girl,
The group chat is buzzing, the desi picnic is getting a brown girl upgrade, and the cap tables? Very much thriving.
Welcome back to Brown Girls, Money Moves, your bi-weekly download on who’s building, backing, scaling, and redefining power the brown girl way. From spicy funding headlines to founders reshaping the food and bev industry to community moments that remind us why we build together - this issue is packed with momentum you’ll want to keep your eye on.
Here’s what’s inside:
🔥 Spicy money moves across gaming, venture capital, beauty, travel, and sexual wellness
🧺 A picnic-ready lineup of brown girl founders redefining snacks, sweets, and sips
🥂 BGA in the wild: what happens when South Asian communities collaborate instead of compete
🤎 Gupshup: fashion moments, founder spotlights, and cultural wins
Chai in hand? Good. Let’s begin.
spicy money moves
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🌶️ Brown girls didn’t come to play this quarter. We came to launch, raise, and run the room. From sexual wellness brands to venture capital watchlists, the momentum is loud and the receipts are stacking. Translation: the Whatsapp family group chat is popping and the cap tables are thriving. Here’s who made the spiciest money moves this week.
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💞 Your sex life just got a lot spicier. Shruti Viradia, the first-gen Indian American founder of Vira, just launched a five-product body care and sexual wellness line rooted in South Asian wellness traditions. Because self-care doesn’t stop at face masks.
✈️ Booked your summer vacay plans yet? Tasneem Amina, Co-founder of home-swapping platform Kindred, just raised $125M to help travellers explore the world without selling a kidney for accommodation prices.
🎮 Major LinkedIn update incoming. Microsoft just named Asha Sharma CEO of Microsoft Gaming, where she’ll oversee the Xbox experience for 500 million players a month. Casual.
💄 The ultimate full-circle moment. Live Tinted, founded by brown girl Deepica Mutyala, just secured investment from L’Oréal’s BOLD venture arm - the same company that once rejected her job application years ago. We love a spicy plot twist.
🧠 A seat at the venture table secured. BGA Collective member and brown girl investor Shruti Kumar, Vice President at Tusk Venture Partners, was named one of the 37 venture capitalists to watch in 2026 after leading several of the firm’s recent investments.
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
This National Picnic Day, it’s time to upgrade your spread with treats and sweets made by brown girl founders. 🍎🧃🧺
From mithai and Ayurvedic elixirs to healthy-ish ladoos and popsicles – these founders are redefining what it means to snack well and snack desi. Get to know the brands here.
🥫 Keya Wingfield, Keya’s
🌶️ Chitra Agrawal, Brooklyn Delhi
🍬 Surbhi Sahni, Tagmo
🍭 Leila Keshavjee, Happy Pops
🍫 Rina Chandarana, Chand & Radha
🍿 Kirati Amin, Let Me Snack LLC
🍜 Sachi Singh, Rootless
🍬 Mayssa Chehata, Behave
🥗 Raveena Juttla, Desilicious
🌶️ Mansi Shah, Down the Road Spice Co.
🧂 Raina Kumra, Spicewell
🍨 Pooja Bavishi, Malai
🍺 Anushka Purohit, Breer
🍷 Raghni Naidu, Naidu Wines
🥭 Maxine Henderson, Bollygood
🥤 Michelle Cordeiro Grant, Gorgie
🥭 A few weeks ago Mango Bites NYC hosted South Asians in Startups: 2026 Outlook - an event bringing together South Asian founders, operators, and investors to talk honestly about building in 2026.
When Mango Bites founder Shaunak Kulkarni asked BGA founder Bhargavi Varma who else should be in the room, she recommended Kobalt Labs CTO Ashi Agarwal.
Post-event feedback? We heard Ashi’s insights were invaluable to the panel.✨
We love seeing South Asian communities choose collaboration over competition.
Kudos to Shauanak for reaching out to BGA to add new voices to the room. Love a good allyship moment don’t you? More of this. Always.
Now that’s what allyship looks like.
More of this. Always.
BGA podcast
🎙️ Season 1 of the Brown Girls, Money Moves podcast was honest, unfiltered, and unapologetically desi.
We sat down with brown girl founders and the investors who bet on them. We unpacked what it really means to build, fundraise, and exit, all through a South Asian lens. 💅
And now… we’re coming back.
🌶️ Season 2 is launching this spring with new guests, a new name, a new look - and the same spicy mission.
This time, we want the BGA community in the room with us.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be tapping our community to help shape the podcast’s next chapter - from a new name to a brand new look and feel.
👀 Keep an eye on the BGA Instagram page…we can’t wait to build this next era together.
Missed Season 1? Listen here.
GUPSHUP
🤎 Spotted: brown fashion girlie Bhavitha Mandava lands on the cover of British Vogue, solidifying her status as fashion’s newest rising star.
📚 Make some room on your bookshelf. It’s time to spice up your reading list with books written by these South Asian women authors.
🗞️ Here’s what the BGA community has been saying about our Brown Girls, Money Moves podcast and newsletter.
🙋🏾♀️ This brown girl founder is on a mission to help the PCOS girlies.
spread the love
💼Take your seat at the table. See what we’re up to in 2026.
🙋🏾♀️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
How Jennifer Aniston’s LolaVie brand grew sales 40% with CTV ads
The DTC beauty category is crowded. To break through, Jennifer Aniston’s brand LolaVie, worked with Roku Ads Manager to easily set up, test, and optimize CTV ad creatives. The campaign helped drive a big lift in sales and customer growth, helping LolaVie break through in the crowded beauty category.
If you missed our poll last time, let us know now what you’re interested in!