Introducing Target Forward Founders Cohort 4

The Target Accelerators team is thrilled to announce the fourth Target Forward Founders cohort. This program is built to equip historically under resourced founders to become the next wave of generational wealth-building companies, by utilizing Target’s size and scale to democratize access, education, and resources.

As Target Forward Founders participants, our fourth cohort will go through an extensive 10-week program that provides personalized education, tools and connections to help them learn how to scale into retail. Representing a variety of product categories including food and beverage, personal care, home, health and beauty, the Target Accelerators team is thrilled to welcome and introduce this group of unique brands as the program launches April 25. Meet the cohort!

Beauty

Clear your vanity and make some space for the emerging beauty brands participating in this year’s spring cohort.

Barb creates styling products and community for short hair.

Climax Hair Care creates revolutionary hair care products that are specially formulated to preserve the health and longevity of natural kinky textured hair that is frequently styled with heat.

Daybird is an anti-beauty beauty club that’s breaking up with societal standards of beauty and redefining them on their own terms.

Feather & Bone sells three-ingredient plant-based skincare inspired by Indian traditions and backed by science.

Flora Flora offers salon-quality sustainable hair care centered around botanicals with unique topical benefits.

Kite Beauty features makeup designed for busy lifestyles and tiny purses. Clean, vegan, cruelty-free, female & minority-founded, and made in the USA.

Food & Beverage

Open your palate to new flavors and spices  with our mix of hand-picked innovative food and beverage companies.

Ajoje Snacks specializes in CHIN CHIN, a crunchy west African snack perfect with coffee, tea or wine for culturally adventurous snack lovers.

CoffeeLlamas is a coffee roasting and distribution company that offers high-quality, organic, and sustainable coffee options, including decaf and half-caff, that caters to caffeine-sensitive individuals and supports coffee-growing communities and the environment.

Down the Road Spice Co. is a new Indian food brand dedicated to changing the way Indian food is cooked and experienced.

Dr. Brownies is the Original Plant Based Dessert Company that offers the first refrigerated ready-to-bake brownie mix, vegan approved.

Fueled by AF is a health food company that provides accessible, quality healthy snacks and facilities for all, regardless of disability.

Gloria’s Shito is a gourmet food company known for its premium Ghanaian shito, made with natural ingredients and traditional processes, to add rich umami flavor and spicy kick to a wide range of international cuisines.

Moon Fruit is a snack food company dedicated to making healthy snacking a fun and exciting experience.

love+magic mixes is a plant-based baking mix company that makes vegan baking at home quick, delicious, and convenient.

Lujis Chocolate is deliciously crafted entirely in West Africa, infused with the region’s unique ingredients; with every purchase, the brand delivers a cocoa seedling to local farmers to improve farmer profits.

Spice Sisters Craft Condiments creates unique, globally inspired,  artisanal sauces made from fresh ingredients and salt/filler free, ethically-sourced, freshly roasted/ground spice blends that allow home cooks to maintain healthy diets with no to low salt and no preservatives, processed ingredients, gluten, dairy or so.

My Mama’s Foods is a carefully curated collection of authentic superfoods inspired by extraordinary moms from around the world, starting with adaptogenic cooking oils and better-for-you snacks.

Nadas Colombian Rainbow Empanadas is a Latino family-owned, gluten-free Colombian rainbow empanada company.

Tiger Life Gourmet features full-flavored seasoning blends that help busy home cooks take the guesswork out of seasoning their favorite Southern-inspired dishes.

Tubby’s Taste offers boldly-flavored Jamaican-inspired cookies that are vegan and free of soy, preservatives, and nuts (excluding coconut).

Health & Personal Care

Try these essentials from our newest cohort to upgrade your everyday routines.

Mela Vitamins is the first wellness company formulating supplements to meet the unique nutritional, wellness and beauty needs of melanated people.

Ohhs Disposable Underwear are individually packaged disposable underwear designed for convenience on the go.

Striking + Strong is a haircare brand for women with textured (curly, wavy, kinky, and coily) hair who live active lifestyles and no longer wish to compromise their overall health for the health of their hair.

Tonsil Tech is an oral care company founded by bioengineers, specializing in tonsil stone products.

Home, Household Essentials, and Pets

Upgrade your home, lifestyle and furry friends’ lives with a selection of innovative brands that are fun and oh-so-unique.  

Element Essentials offers effective, safe, and eco-friendly cleaning products for your home that don’t include excess water, air, or plastic that is single-use or non-biodegradable.

GameFlo is the community-focused gaming company behind PickUp, offering a  basketball-themed card game that will wow you with its gameplay and 40+ visually-stunning characters.

Just Play Entertainment is a full-service game and event production company.

LUCIA DIAZ is a Latina-owned small business that empowers and honors Latinas through high-quality art prints, one-of-a-kind greeting cards, and other exciting stationery products.

Melanin Meanings is a Black-owned stationery accessories and novelty gift brand, intentionally elevating vibrant African-inspired textiles and Black nostalgia, and making cultural heritage and pride easily accessible for all.

Pezzy Pets makes tasty single and limited ingredient treats exclusively from 100% wild-caught, overly abundant invasive fish.

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