How Africa
Tristan Walker, the 31-year-old Silicon Valley CEO who raised $24m to build a personal care line for people of colour
His company and his nonprofit are both focused on issues affecting people of colour.
Tristan Walker didn’t know anything about Silicon Valley until he was 24 years old.
Today, at age 31, he’s gone through stints at Twitter, Foursquare and Andreessen Horowitz, emerging as a leader in efforts to boost diversity in tech.
Tristan’s two-year old health and beauty startup, Walker & Company Brands, is growing fast.
Much of that success comes thanks to Bevel, a shaving kit geared toward men of colour.
“What frustrated me was how much money this demographic spends,” he says, while at the same time being offered such limited product options.
Earlier this year, he raised a $24 million round of funding, including investment from celebrities including rapper Nas and venture capital outfits like Google Ventures.
The firm’s products went on sale in Target stores earlier this year. Bevel is launching a new electric trimmer this spring, while Walker has plans to unveil a new brand aimed at women later in the year.
He has also served as co-founder and chairman of Code 2040, a nonprofit that helps black and Latino students land jobs at tech giants like Facebook and Apple.
Tristan holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stony Brook University, where he graduated as valedictorian, and an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
