Pronghorn – a standalone company on a mission to cultivate the next generation of Black entrepreneurs and executives in the spirits industry – recently released its first Impact Report and announced they have received a commitment of $200 million in support of the company’s mission. And since the company’s inception in 2022, Pronghorn has invested in 19 brands, which is a major milestone for its first year in business.
Backed by anchor investor and global beverage leader Diageo North America, these investments into the spirits industry will fuel Pronghorn’s overarching 10-year plan to invest in 57 Black-owned spirits brands, driving ownership and equity in an industry with only one acquisition of a Black-owned spirits brand to date (source: CB Insights).
The company also unveiled data from its 2022- 2023 Impact Report (available at pronghorn.co/impact). And according to Pronghorn’s data, the spirits industry does not accurately reflect the consumers it serves with Black Americans representing 12% of all consumers, but only about 7% of the spirits labor force and just 2% at the executive level.
In the first year Pronghorn was able to identify 258 Black-owned spirits companies, support the businesses of 40 individual Black founders, and invest in 19 portfolio brands – which include Ten to One Caribbean Rum in which Grammy-award winning singer Ciara is a partner, Anteel Tequila, IslandJon Vodka, Greenwood Whiskey, etc. This impact report also revealed that the company’s portfolio brands saw significant overall growth at an average of 101%, according to Nielsen IQ L52W to May 13, 2023.
Plus Pronghorn achieved 5% of the company’s goal to help place Black employees within 1,800 industry roles. And this investment propels Pronghorn’s goal to produce $2.4 Billion of industry economic value driven by employment for the Black community by 2032. Pronghorn established various initiatives to empower the next generation of Black executives, including the Pronghorn HBCU Spirited Innovation Lab, its internship program, Pronghorn Spirits Academy in partnership with InRoads, and its mentorship program. Further, Pronghorn established a partnership with the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) and its DEI Member Committee, composed of supplier companies, which committed to hiring 949 roles by 2032.
Pronghorn’s partnership with DISCUS – which is one of the industry’s most prominent leaders – culminated with this month’s debut of the inaugural DEI Summit, a standalone day for educating spirits industry professionals about DEI practices and featured panels for underrepresented founders led by investors Pronghorn, Constellation Brands, 1863 Ventures, and more, at the annual DISCUS Conference in Chicago.
KEY QUOTE:
“Since inception, our mission has been crystal clear in creating a template to diversify any industry and in doing so help be a force in supporting new founders, bold executives, and the businesses of Black entrepreneurs within the spirits industry. We couldn’t be more proud of the Pronghorn team’s pace of progress towards our goal within just one year of launch. So much hard work remains, but this investment is significant and the purpose is powerful.”
— Dia Simms, Pronghorn Co-Founder and Board Chair
