Two years ago, budding entrepreneur Mikalia Ulmer wowed the Shark Tank judges with her BeeSweet Lemonade venture. The precocious adolescent impressed the investors so much that they donated $60,000 into her business. Now, Mikalia’s venture is getting even more monetary support.
According to The Huffington Post, Arian Foster and other NFL players invested $810,000 into Me & The Bees Lemonade during a “Been Brilliant Entrepreneur Day” in Houston, Texas (July 6). The other pros who joined Foster’s pledge include Sharrick McManis, Omar Bolden, Bobby Wagner, Jonathan Grimes, Glover Quin, Darius Slay, EJ Manuel, Malik Jackson, Duane Brown and more.
“Of course, any time you invest in anything you look at if it’s going to be profitable. We look for companies that match our main focus of developing a good product, but are also good people and do it for the right reasons,” Foster said to The Houston Chronicle. “It’s more than about money to us. We believe that investing in small black business is extremely important.”
Arian Foster @ArianFoster and Glover Quin @GloverQuin27 at ‘Bee Brilliant Entrepreneur Day’ pic.twitter.com/f3O91JcBBu
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) July 6, 2017
Mikalia’s beverage landed placement in Whole Foods since March 2016 and business has been booming ever since. Her business mindset began when she started selling her great grandmother’s lemonade that fused flaxseed within other ingredients.
“I’m very happy that I’m able to work with them and they invested in my company and them helping us and mentoring us and believing in our mission,” the 12-year-old said. “I think we have a better chance of achieving our goals. That keeps me pumped and excited every day.”