Dawn Myers founded Richualist to address a gap in beauty hardware: tools designed for naturally curly or textured hair. Its first product, Mint, uses refillable pods and gentle warming to detangle, condition, gel and style hair in one pass, cutting a typical wash-day routine from about 80 minutes to 7–10 minutes, according to TechCrunch.
Myers self-funded early development by selling her home and liquidating her 401(k), then raised roughly $1.4 million to commercialize the product. She became one of the first 100 Black women to raise more than $1 million in venture funding. The company also worked with materials science firm Dow, which provided engineering and manufacturing help after spotting the same market gap.
In 2022, Myers was diagnosed with stage three colorectal cancer and closed a funding round while undergoing treatment. She later appeared on Shark Tank, securing a deal with Mark Cuban and Emma Grede, and the product has since been added to Ulta’s online store. Richualist was also selected for TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield 200 at Disrupt this year.