Friday, March 29, 2024

Founders of Black-Owned Wine Shop in Downtown Oakland Raise $60K in Funding

Alicia Kidd and Mari Kemp
Alicia Kidd and Mari Kemp

*Oakland’s Black Arts Movement Business District will soon be the home of the city’s newest cultural destination for wine lovers, CoCo Noir Wine Shop & Bar.

Co-founded by Bay Area natives Alicia Kidd and Mari Kemp, the wine shop is slated to open during the first quarter of 2021 and will focus on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) as well as women-owned brands made around the country as well as globally that can be paired with a curated menu of small bites.

“We founded CoCo Noir to be a disruptor in the wine industry by offering a platform and a space for winemakers of color and women producing amazing wines and also expose those wines to an amazing demographic of people,” says Kidd, who is also a distributor, launching her company The Wine Noire in 2017. Together with Kemp, the entrepreneurs are looking to influence the wine culture that has been steadily rising in Oakland’s nationally recognized culinary scene.

Located at 13th and Webster, Kidd and Kemp are designing CoCo Noir to be a place where wine lovers of all levels can enjoy a glass and purchase their favorite bottles while being immersed in a vibrant community culture. “Part of being able to create Coco Noir is to have a place where people can feel comfortable to be themselves, to be human, while also enjoying the fruits of the community, of local arts as well as global libations of different wines that we will be offering,” says Kemp. The San Francisco native has built a successful career in tech as well as real estate investment.

Since launching their Wefunder campaign on September 8, Kidd and Kemp have secured investments of more than $60,000 from over 100 investors and micro-investors who are excited to be a part of bringing community and culture to wine lovers at the downtown Oakland location. Recognizing their innovative vision to celebrate diversity in the wine industry is Credibles co-founder Arno Hesso, who notes on their Wefunder page, “Their plans are ambitious but grounded in a sense of realism. CoCo Noir is honing in on a very promising location in Oakland, which could serve as a launchpad to branching out even further.”

Kidd and Kemp are currently hosting virtual tasting events and experiences with individuals and groups around the country that provide an inside taste of what’s to come with CoCo Noir.

In addition to carefully curated wine offerings and tasty small bites, the anticipated Bay Area wine location will be tech savvy with a first-of-its-kind mobile app and space for working professionals looking for a change of scenery as well as groups looking to host events where wine is the star of the party.

CoCo Noir Wine Shop & Bar’s Wefunder campaign details are available at https://wefunder.com/coco.noir.wine.shop. The investment level starts at $100, with perks being offered for investments of $250 and up. The revenue share model is set up to offer 4% with a 2.5x payback multiple, which more than doubles one’s original investment. Information meetings are also available by emailing [email protected] to schedule.

Follow their journey to launching CoCo Noir on InstagramFacebook and Twitter.

About Alicia Kidd
Born and raised in Oakland, Alicia is an entrepreneur in the wine industry with a passion for moving the wine and food industry forward with new diversity and inclusion strategies.

About Mari Kemp
A San Francisco native, Mari is a serial investor and entrepreneur and tech executive with a passion for investing in start-ups and growth companies with female co-founders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

source:
V. Sheree Creative Enterprises, LLC
[email protected]

 

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