Kehlani has been in the news for both her music and for fostering conversations surrounding mental health awareness and online empathy.

Now, however, she is in the spotlight thanks to her tech ventures, TechCrunch reports!

Backstage Capital, a venture capital firm dedicated to funding people of color, has invested $50,000 into the artist's health and wellness startup, Flora. Backstage's founder and managing partner, Arlan Hamilton, will join Flora's board and also serve as a mentor and adviser.

“Bridging the gap between my career, activism and my audience is important to me as a next step,” Kehlani said. “I am incredibly honored to work with Arlan, not only due to her outstanding work in the tech world, but her consistency in supporting queer women of color. I look forward to creating positive change and making strides in tech.”

Kehlani's new mentor believes that she is doing everything she needs to do to make sure those strides will lead to a successful company.

“Kehlani is at the Soul Train Awards tonight in Vegas where she is up for Best R&B Female, and is still Slacking with her co-founders and me about startup business,” said Hamilton. “It’s been this way from all of her shows the past few weeks, including Voodoo Fest. She’s taking this incredibly seriously, and in my opinion is approaching it like she would a new album or tour. It’s exciting to see her learning about the tech world, and I’m impressed with her interest in sharing the journey with her fans.”

Kehlani connected with Hamilton after reaching out to her to thank the VC for helping queer women of color. During that conversation, Flora came up, and Hamilton told the artist that she wanted to get in on the ground floor.

Flora, which boasts the tagline, “curated green content,” is geared towards 16 to 25-year-olds. It's not yet clear exactly what form the curated content will take. Kehlani co-founded the startup with Alaxic Smith and Reid Williams.

Congrats to Kehlani! Flora is still currently under construction, but you can sign up to be notified of its launch here!

And if you want to hear about Flora live and in person, come to Afro Tech, where Kehlani will be a featured speaker.

Photo: GIPHY

Backstage Capital

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