Black Woman Owned

What Black Woman Owned does

Black Woman Owned, LLC is a privately held digital media company founded in 2019 by A. Walton Smith and headquartered in Maryland, United States. The company curates business news and produces original content focused exclusively on Black woman-owned businesses, distributing across its website (blackwomanowned.co) and owned social channels on Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, YouTube, and TikTok. Its stated mission is to amplify Black woman-owned businesses through social and digital media to help increase their annual revenue.

The company operates a hybrid business model across three revenue streams. Advertising services are sold to brands seeking to reach consumers who support Black woman-owned businesses, with marketing campaigns created both for BWO businesses and for other companies seeking audience access. Research services are offered under the sub-brand "Insight by Black Woman Owned," powered through a strategic partnership with SALT+LIGHT Agency, providing market intelligence to brands and organizations targeting the BWO market. A subscription mailing list offers subscribers first access to content, giveaways, and business news. The "Together We Fund" campaign extends the platform into crowdfunding amplification, running virtual call-a-thons to support live crowdfunding events for individual BWO businesses.

Black Woman Owned serves a two-sided audience: BWO-conscious consumers (predominantly Black women and allies who over-index on social media engagement) and Black woman entrepreneurs seeking visibility, advertising, and research services. The company is founder-owned and operated with no disclosed institutional investors, no disclosed revenue figures, and a headcount of approximately 20 employees. Its customer base is fragmented across many small businesses and advertisers, with no disclosed enterprise contracts. The operating footprint is United States-focused, though digital distribution is global.

Name

Black Woman Owned

Legal name

Black Woman Owned, LLC

Website

https://blackwomanowned.co

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Black Woman Owned is a digital media company that curates business news and original content to amplify Black woman-owned businesses across its website and social channels, while selling advertising and research services to brands seeking to reach the BWO consumer market.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Media Services

NAICS

Media Buying Agencies (541830)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Stock Media, Asset Marketplaces & Licensing Platforms (BPAMAJAM)

Keywords

• Digital media platform
• Business news curation
• Advertising services
• Market research services
• Diverse business content

Headquarters

HQ city

Maryland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Advertising Services: Black Woman Owned provides advertising for businesses looking to reach consumers who care about Black Woman Owned businesses, and creates marketing campaigns for BWO businesses and other companies looking to share their product, program, or service with their audience.
2. Research Services: The company provides research services through its Insight by Black Woman Owned platform, offering business intelligence to brands and organizations seeking to understand or reach the Black woman-owned business market.
3. Subscription / Mailing List: The company offers a mailing list subscription where subscribers are the first to know about new content, giveaways and more, suggesting a newsletter-based revenue or engagement model.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Black Woman Owned is a media company that curates business news and produces original content (primarily short-form video on TikTok and features on its website) about Black woman-owned businesses to amplify them across social and digital media. Beyond editorial coverage, it sells paid advertising services to brands wanting to reach BWO-conscious consumers and offers research services (Insight by Black Woman Owned) providing market intelligence on the Black woman-owned business segment.

Product overview

Black Woman Owned is a media company operating a multi-platform content and marketing business. The core offering consists of business news curation and original content creation distributed across social and digital media platforms. The company provides advertising services for brands seeking to reach consumers who support Black woman-owned businesses, and research services under the Insight by Black Woman Owned brand. Additionally, the Together We Fund campaign supports crowdfunding initiatives for BWO businesses through virtual events and amplification programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Together We Fund: Campaign promoting economic growth for Black Woman-Owned businesses through amplification and virtual call-a-thons to support live crowdfunding events.
• Insight by Black Woman Owned

Products and services

• Business News Curation Curated business news coverage featuring Black woman-owned businesses across categories including technology, finance, beauty, food & beverage, and professional services, published on blackwomanowned.co.
• Original Content Creation Proprietary original short-form and editorial content produced for social and digital media platforms (notably TikTok @black.woman.owned) to amplify Black woman-owned businesses.
• Advertising Services Paid advertising services for brands and businesses seeking to reach consumers who care about Black woman-owned businesses, including targeted marketing campaigns and brand amplification across the platform's owned channels.
• Research Services (Insight by Black Woman Owned) Market research services branded as Insight by Black Woman Owned (powered by SALT+LIGHT Agency), providing business intelligence and insights on Black woman-owned business trends and consumer behavior for brands and organizations.

Quantifiable outcome

• The Together We Fund campaign aims to support crowdfunding efforts for Black woman-owned businesses, with one campaign targeting $35,000 for the HairSolutions Trolley production.

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Davis Beauty SolutionscoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 November 2024Davis Beauty Solutions, led by Khadijah Davis, partnered with Black Woman Owned's Together We Fund campaign to crowdfund $35,000 for the second-generation HairSolutions Trolley production. Black Woman Owned provides amplification and marketing support for the crowdfunding campaign, aiming to bring the salon tool to the global market.
• SALT+LIGHT AgencycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSALT+LIGHT Agency powers 'Insight by Black Woman Owned,' the research services arm of the platform, which provides business intelligence and market research for brands and organizations seeking to understand or reach the Black woman-owned business market.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Blavity Inc. Blavity is a Black-focused digital media company operating multiple content brands and events for Black audiences. It is a direct peer to Black Woman Owned as a multi-platform Black-audience content publisher with advertising and brand activations.
• Official Black Wall Street: Official Black Wall Street is a digital directory and marketplace promoting Black-owned businesses. It is a direct peer to Black Woman Owned in its BWO business directory/discovery mission and SMB advertiser monetization model.
• The Shade Room: The Shade Room is a leading Black-focused social-first media brand. It is comparable to Black Woman Owned as a digitally native, social-first Black-audience publisher monetized primarily through advertising and brand partnerships.
• Support Black Owned: Support Black Owned is a directory platform connecting consumers to Black-owned businesses. It directly parallels Black Woman Owned's discovery-and-amplification function for the BWO ecosystem, with overlapping audience and SMB advertiser base.
• Essence Communications: Essence is a leading media brand serving Black women across digital, print, and events. It is a direct peer to Black Woman Owned in its audience focus (Black women), editorial mix (business/lifestyle/news), and advertising-driven model.
• The Grio: The Grio is a digital news platform covering Black news, culture, and business. It is directly comparable as a Black-focused digital media publisher monetized through advertising and audience reach across social channels.
• Because of Them We Can: Because of Them We Can is a digital media platform celebrating Black culture and achievement. It overlaps with Black Woman Owned as a Black-audience content brand using social media distribution and brand partnerships for monetization.

Others

• Shopify: Shopify provides e-commerce infrastructure to SMBs, including many BWO businesses. It is an ecosystem enabler/adjacent player relevant to BWO because a significant portion of BWO businesses run on Shopify and represent a potential BWO-segment partnership or advertising client base.

Broad incumbents

• Substack: Substack is a broader publishing/email-newsletter platform powering independent writers. It is a broad incumbent comparable to Black Woman Owned's mailing-list/newsletter distribution layer and creator-monetization model.
• Medium: Medium is a large-scale online publishing platform. It is a broad incumbent parallel to Black Woman Owned's curated content publishing and audience-monetization model, though at much larger scale and broader topical scope.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@BlackWomanOwned
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/black-woman-owned
• Instagraminstagram.com/blackwomanowned
• TikToktiktok.com/@black.woman.owned

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Black Woman Owned