meet the recipients of our 2025 Rooted in Growth program
if you’ve been around the amikaverse for a little while, then you may be familiar with our Rooted in Growth Startup Grant Program, powered by Innovation Studio, an initiative we launched as a way to invest in the next generation of industry trailblazers. while we’ve always championed diversity and inclusivity, we knew we needed to do even more to tackle the inequities faced by so many within the haircare and beauty industries, so we proudly kicked off Rooted in Growth in 2023 to show up for those who needed it most.
now, in our second year, we’ve gone even bigger and better! we've doubled our impact, funding 4 emerging haircare founders with $50,000 grants along with a 4-month mentorship program + networking opportunities with the amika team, plus haircare and beauty industry leaders. it’s been so exciting to get to know these groundbreaking brands, and we can’t wait for you to get to know them, too. so, without further ado, let us introduce to you our 2025 recipients of the Rooted in Growth Startup Grant Program.
in this article:
meet the grantees
sienna naturals
founder: Hannah Diop
what it is: sienna naturals offers high-performance, plant-based haircare products that focus on both hair and scalp and are specifically formulated for textured hair types.
- we love sienna naturals’ unwavering commitment to the planet, and how their earth friendly ethos touches everything they do. co-founder Hannah Diop is on a mission to create products for textured hair that are clean, high-performance andwon’t compromise hair integrity, and welove that they’re pushing the innovation envelope with their Rooted Technology™, which provides a foundation for your happiest scalp and hair.
follow their journey: @siennanaturals
naturally drenched
founder: Jamila Powell
what it is: with a foundation built on embracing natural beauty, naturally drenched is a clean beauty haircare brand dedicated to providing eco-conscious, high-quality products designed to help scalps and hydrate all hair types, with a special focus on curly and textured hair.
why amika loves naturally drenched: aside from their effortlessly cool aesthetic, naturally drenched’s focus on curl care really caught our eye. we also love that they take a holistic approach to hair (and scalps!) and offer formulas that target root concerns.
follow their journey: @naturallydrenched
kazmaleje
founder: LaToya and LaTasha Stirrup
what it is: tired of long wash days, unnecessary breakage while detangling, and hair tools that didn’thold up to their standards, sisters LaToya and LaTasha Stirrup decided to reinvent the wash day experience by creating innovative, lifestyle-amplifying hair tools and products that are as innovative as they are easy to use.
why amika loves kazmaleje: we love supporting brands offering haircare solutions that caterto the needs and wants of their community, and we’re so impressed that kazmaleje (pronounced cos-mol-o-gy) is solving the problem of less hair breakage while styling and saving time on wash day. and, of course, we love a sister-founded brand that values equity within the industry as much as we do!
follow their journey: @kazmaleje
richualist
founder: Dawn Myers
what it is: richualist creates all-in-one styling tools and hair tech that makes styling highly textured hair faster, easier, and more convenient than ever before. tapping into the emotional journey inherent in haircare, richualist empowers women of color to embrace their natural hair by cutting styling time, increasing convenience, and minimizing the invisible pain points in ethnic haircare.
why amika loves richualist: we love that Dawn built richualist to answer a real need for the textured haircare community. to see the workshe’s put in to build something so innovative and necessary for textured hair has been incredible, and the products she’s introduced for cutting down time on wash days are a true gamechanger.
follow their journey: @getrichualist