●SERENA WILLIAMS 16 UNICORNS BACKED●REESE WITHERSPOON $900M MEDIA EXIT●OPRAH WINFREY $43M WEIGHT WATCHERS●GWYNETH PALTROW $250M GOOP VALUATION●RIHANNA $1B SAVAGE X FENTY●JESSICA ALBA HONEST CO. · NASDAQ IPO●HALLE BERRY BACKS WOMEN'S HEALTH●BEYONCÉ LEMON PERFECT BACKER●JENNIFER LOPEZ HIMS & HERS BACKER●KIM KARDASHIAN SKKY PARTNERS PE FUND●SELENA GOMEZ GOPUFF STRATEGIC PARTNER●PRIYANKA CHOPRA BUMBLE EARLY BACKER●DEEPIKA PADUKONE KA ENTERPRISES INVESTOR●SHAKIRA ISIMA HAIRCARE FOUNDER●NATALIE PORTMAN ANGEL CITY CO-FOUNDER●KERRY WASHINGTON ANGEL INVESTOR●MINDY KALING ANGEL INVESTOR●EVA LONGORIA CASA DEL SOL CO-FOUNDER●CAMERON DIAZ AVALINE CO-FOUNDER●DREW BARRYMORE FLOWER BEAUTY FOUNDER●KATE HUDSON FABLETICS CO-FOUNDER●BLAKE LIVELY BETTY BUZZ FOUNDER●VENUS WILLIAMS ELEVEN FOUNDER●NAOMI OSAKA HANA KUMA CO-FOUNDER●MARIA SHARAPOVA PROLIFIC WELLNESS ANGEL●TYRA BANKS FIERCE CAPITAL FOUNDER●KARLIE KLOSS BEDFORD MEDIA FOUNDER●ISSA RAE TOPICALS & HILLTOP BACKER●KATY PERRY DE SOI CO-FOUNDER●KYLIE JENNER $1.2B KYLIE COSMETICS●BETHENNY FRANKEL SKINNYGIRL FOUNDER●MELINDA FRENCH GATES PIVOTAL VENTURES●CATHIE WOOD ARK INVEST CEO●MELLODY HOBSON ARIEL INVESTMENTS CO-CEO●KIRSTEN GREEN FORERUNNER VENTURES●SALLIE KRAWCHECK ELLEVEST CEO●MARY MEEKER BOND CAPITAL FOUNDER●ARLAN HAMILTON BACKSTAGE CAPITAL●BARBARA CORCORAN SHARK TANK INVESTOR●SHERYL SANDBERG EX-META COO●SARA BLAKELY FOUNDER OF SPANX●KATHY XU CAPITAL TODAY FOUNDER●JENNY LEE GRANITE ASIA PARTNER●SOLINA CHAU HORIZONS VENTURES●KIRAN MAZUMDAR-SHAW BIOCON FOUNDER●FALGUNI NAYAR NYKAA FOUNDER●MARÍA ASUNCIÓN ARAMBURUZABALA TRESALIA CAPITAL●OLIVIA WILDE $500K–$2M CHEQUES●EMMA WATSON 2 DOCUMENTED DEALS●PARIS HILTON 20+ STARTUP BETS●THE FOSTER SISTERS BUMBLE AND MIRROR EARLY●GRACE BEVERLEY £6.2M IN TALA'S FIRST YEAR●AILEEN LEE COINED "UNICORN"●ANN MIURA-KO SEED INVESTOR IN LYFT●EMMA GREDE 8% OF SKIMS●NAMITA THAPAR 100+ COMPANIES BACKED●SERENA WILLIAMS 16 UNICORNS BACKED●REESE WITHERSPOON $900M MEDIA EXIT●OPRAH WINFREY $43M WEIGHT WATCHERS●GWYNETH PALTROW $250M GOOP VALUATION●RIHANNA $1B SAVAGE X FENTY●JESSICA ALBA HONEST CO. · NASDAQ IPO●HALLE BERRY BACKS WOMEN'S HEALTH●BEYONCÉ LEMON PERFECT BACKER●JENNIFER LOPEZ HIMS & HERS BACKER●KIM KARDASHIAN SKKY PARTNERS PE FUND●SELENA GOMEZ GOPUFF STRATEGIC PARTNER●PRIYANKA CHOPRA BUMBLE EARLY BACKER●DEEPIKA PADUKONE KA ENTERPRISES INVESTOR●SHAKIRA ISIMA HAIRCARE FOUNDER●NATALIE PORTMAN ANGEL CITY CO-FOUNDER●KERRY WASHINGTON ANGEL INVESTOR●MINDY KALING ANGEL INVESTOR●EVA LONGORIA CASA DEL SOL CO-FOUNDER●CAMERON DIAZ AVALINE CO-FOUNDER●DREW BARRYMORE FLOWER BEAUTY FOUNDER●KATE HUDSON FABLETICS CO-FOUNDER●BLAKE LIVELY BETTY BUZZ FOUNDER●VENUS WILLIAMS ELEVEN FOUNDER●NAOMI OSAKA HANA KUMA CO-FOUNDER●MARIA SHARAPOVA PROLIFIC WELLNESS ANGEL●TYRA BANKS FIERCE CAPITAL FOUNDER●KARLIE KLOSS BEDFORD MEDIA FOUNDER●ISSA RAE TOPICALS & HILLTOP BACKER●KATY PERRY DE SOI CO-FOUNDER●KYLIE JENNER $1.2B KYLIE COSMETICS●BETHENNY FRANKEL SKINNYGIRL FOUNDER●MELINDA FRENCH GATES PIVOTAL VENTURES●CATHIE WOOD ARK INVEST CEO●MELLODY HOBSON ARIEL INVESTMENTS CO-CEO●KIRSTEN GREEN FORERUNNER VENTURES●SALLIE KRAWCHECK ELLEVEST CEO●MARY MEEKER BOND CAPITAL FOUNDER●ARLAN HAMILTON BACKSTAGE CAPITAL●BARBARA CORCORAN SHARK TANK INVESTOR●SHERYL SANDBERG EX-META COO●SARA BLAKELY FOUNDER OF SPANX●KATHY XU CAPITAL TODAY FOUNDER●JENNY LEE GRANITE ASIA PARTNER●SOLINA CHAU HORIZONS VENTURES●KIRAN MAZUMDAR-SHAW BIOCON FOUNDER●FALGUNI NAYAR NYKAA FOUNDER●MARÍA ASUNCIÓN ARAMBURUZABALA TRESALIA CAPITAL●OLIVIA WILDE $500K–$2M CHEQUES●EMMA WATSON 2 DOCUMENTED DEALS●PARIS HILTON 20+ STARTUP BETS●THE FOSTER SISTERS BUMBLE AND MIRROR EARLY●GRACE BEVERLEY £6.2M IN TALA'S FIRST YEAR●AILEEN LEE COINED "UNICORN"●ANN MIURA-KO SEED INVESTOR IN LYFT●EMMA GREDE 8% OF SKIMS●NAMITA THAPAR 100+ COMPANIES BACKED

Who backs it

Ariel Alternatives / Project Black

Private-equity arm's $1.45 billion inaugural fund that buys middle-market companies ($100M–$1B in revenue) and scales them as minority-owned suppliers to Fortune 500 corporations.

1 profiled backer

← All companies

The backers

Who invested in Ariel Alternatives / Project Black

Mellody Hobson

Co-CEO and president of Ariel Investments, the Chicago value manager (~$13.8B AUM).

When: Co-founded Ariel Alternatives in 2021; Project Black closed at $1.45B in February 2023 with LPs including Walmart, Lowe's, Salesforce and JPMorgan.
Why: To narrow the racial wealth gap by giving diverse-led firms both capital and access to large corporate customers.
Status: Deployed across acquisitions including Sorenson, CQ Fluency and My Code.

Forbes, 2023 ↗Black Enterprise, 2023 ↗Full Mellody Hobson profile →

What the record doesn't say

Read this with the gaps in mind.

This page lists the celebrity backers of Ariel Alternatives / Project Black that we have been able to source, not its full cap table. Institutional investors, founders and private angels are outside what this site covers, and terms are rarely disclosed on either side.

Frequently asked questions

Which celebrities have invested in Ariel Alternatives / Project Black?

Mellody Hobson is the profiled backer of Ariel Alternatives / Project Black on this site. Each entry links to the reporting it comes from. Other investors — funds, founders and angels who are not public figures — are not covered here.

How much did they invest in Ariel Alternatives / Project Black?

Cheque sizes are almost never disclosed. Where a round size, stake or valuation has been reported we cite it above; where it has not, we say so rather than estimate.