Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs To Launch Marketplace For Black Entrepreneurs

Sean “Diddy” Combs has teamed up with Salesforce to launch Shop Circulate, a curated digital marketplace that allows consumers to discover and buy products created and sold by Black entrepreneurs.

The new platform, announced on the 100th anniversary of the attack on Black Wall Street in the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, aims to help build Black wealth by circulating economic investment among Black-owned businesses.

“Building Black wealth starts with investing in Black-owned businesses and giving entrepreneurs access to the consumers needed to build sustainable companies that can thrive,” Combs said in a statement. “I’m excited to partner with Salesforce to create a platform that will advance our collective pursuit of economic justice.”

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said his company is “honored to collaborate” with Combs’ team “to help close the unjust wealth gap that prevents too many Black Americans from achieving economic equality.”

“Shop Circulate will empower us all — as individuals, communities and companies — to support Black-owned businesses, amplify the talent of Black entrepreneurs and move us closer to true equality,” Benioff added.

Shop Circulate has acquired The Nile List, a digital community that connects consumers with Black-owned brands, and appointed Nile List founder Khadijah Robinson to head of product, where she will oversee development and spearhead all Shop Circulate global efforts. Shop Circulate has also reached a partnership with Official Black Wall Street, a leading directory to discover Black-owned businesses, with its founder Mandy Bowman joining as an advisor.

The platform, which will launch later this year, will feature an expansive list of businesses ranging from beauty, fashion and art to health, wellness and home products and will be designed and built by Deloitte Digital and powered by Marketplacer’s technology.

“Deloitte’s purpose is to make an impact that matters. As the largest professional services organization in the world, we have a responsibility to help level the playing field and advance opportunities for the Black community in business,” Deloitte Global CEO Punit Renjen said in a statement. “This is one of the most effective ways for organizations like ours to do our part in ending systemic bias, racial injustice, and unequal treatment in all its forms.”

Marketplacer executive chairman Jason Wyatt added, “Marketplaces are a great leveler in bringing together businesses of all sizes into a single venue to drive opportunity and growth. It’s our goal that our partnership with Shop Circulate will bring our powerful marketplace platform to the Black and Brown-owned businesses and entrepreneurs as a vehicle to drive change, growth and success.”

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