Gran Coramino Tequila, a Jersey City-based ultrapremium tequila founded in 2022 by Kevin Hart and 11th-generation tequila maker Juan Domingo Beckmann, has awarded over $1 million in grant funds to over 100 Black and Latinx small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Founded with a vision to celebrate life’s hard-earned moments, Gran Coramino Tequila donates $1 from every bottle sold to support the hard work of underrepresented entrepreneurs across the U.S. and Mexico.
In less than two years since its launch, the Coramino Fund has supported over 100 entrepreneurs with $10,000 grants to fuel the growth of their small businesses. In the latest funding round, 50 businesses were selected to receive grants — 52% of these businesses are Black-owned, 36% are Latinx-owned and 12% are Black and Latinx-owned; 66% of the grantee businesses are women-owned.
“As an entrepreneur myself, I’ve seen how early financial support can impact the long-term success of the business. The Coramino Fund was created to provide support to some of the hardest working people out there — entrepreneurs and small business owners,” Hart said.
“Small businesses are the economic backbone of communities,” Michael Pugh, Local Initiatives Support Corp. CEO and president, said. “But many owners lack fair access to the capital and services they need to grow. 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.”
Alongside its give-back work in the U.S., Gran Coramino Tequila has and continues to support entrepreneurs in Tequila, Mexico — where Gran Coramino’s Cristalino Reposado and Añejo are crafted — with Mexico impact partner the Beckmann Foundation.
Later this year, the brand is expanding its Coramino Fund programming to entrepreneurs throughout Mexico with a new impact partner, the renowned university Tec de Monterrey.
