Kevin Hart’s Gran Coramino Tequila has officially reached a new milestone.
According to a press release shared with AFROTECH™, since its inception in 2022, the ultra-premium tequila company has provided more than $1 million in grant funding to over 100 Black and Latinx small-business owners and entrepreneurs through its Coramino Fund.
The fund, powered by the company founded by Hart and 11th-generation tequila maker Juan Domingo Beckmann, has made giving back to the community its main priority from the very beginning, honoring its “vision to celebrate life’s hard-earned moments” by donating $1 from every bottle sold to support underrepresented entrepreneurs in the United States and Mexico.
“As an entrepreneur myself, I’ve seen how early financial support can impact the long-term success of the business,” Hart said in a statement. “The Coramino Fund was created to provide support to some of the hardest working people out there — entrepreneurs and small business owners.”
The move is made possible through Gran Coramino’s partnership with U.S. impact partner, the Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC).
“Small businesses are the economic backbone of communities, but many owners lack fair access to the capital and services they need to grow,” Michael T. Pugh, LISC president and CEO, said in the news release. “We are grateful to Gran Coramino for recognizing the systemic barriers that impact the success of underrepresented entrepreneurs and developing a give-back strategy to help address them. When we invest in these businesses, we are also investing in the well-being of the communities where they operate.”
Within two years of its launch, the Coramino Fund has provided more than 100 entrepreneurs with $10,000 grants to help spearhead and scale their small businesses.
With more than 35,000 submissions, the fund reports that it has impacted businesses across various industries, such as retail, food services, transportation, educational services, and more. The most recent round of funding included 50 businesses receiving grants with 52% being Black-owned, 36% Latinx-owned, and 12% identifying as Black and Latinx-owned. A total of 66% of the grantee businesses were women-owned.
Grant recipient Frances Roman, chef and owner of Cocotazo, a Puerto Rican restaurant in New York City, NY, expressed the impact that the fund has had on her business.
“As a business owner, you face ups and downs, and the Coramino Fund grant came at a time when we needed it most,” she said. “We were able to buy more equipment to cater to larger clients and invest in advertising. Since then, we’ve hired three more women and are outgrowing the space!”
Continuing its mission to take care of underserved entrepreneurs, Gran Coramino aims to support businesses in Tequila, Mexico, where its Cristalino Reposado and Añejo are curated, by partnering with Mexico impact partner, the Beckmann Foundation.
In 2024, the brand will expand its Coramino Fund programming to entrepreneurs throughout Mexico, which is home to tequila, through a new impact partner and well-known university, Tec de Monterrey.
