Constellation Brands to Invest $100 million in Female-Led Booze Brands
*By Conor White*
A gender gap persists in most industries, but among the most glaring examples of the disparity can be found in beverage manufacturing ー a business in which men make up roughly 80 percent of executives.
In order to close that gap, Constellation Brands ($STZ) has announced it will invest in female-founded beverage companies, beginning with Austin Cocktails and Vivify Beverages.
"We're excited to invest $100 million over the next ten 10 years in disruptive and innovative business in our space," said Mallika Monteiro, Constellation's chief growth officer.
"Women are the fastest-growing set of entrepreneurs in the U.S. today," Monteiro told Cheddar in an interview Friday. "Yet 2 percent \[in 2017\] of investor funding went to female-led businesses."
Constellation is hoping to shift that number ー but Monteiro said the company's efforts will go beyond a simple infusion of capital.
"We're bringing them into our network of expertise," Monteiro said. "Whether that is the network of relationships we have with our distributor partners, with our supply chain partners, and logistical partners."
For Monteiro, the decision was ultimately an easy one.
"This is an opportunity for us to double down on our commitment of diversity and inclusion," she said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/corona-maker-constellation-wants-women-to-disrupt-the-alcohol-industry).
Coinbase has been targeted by U.S. regulators in a new lawsuit Tuesday that alleges the cryptocurrency platform is operating as an unregistered securities platform and brokerage service.
Actors represented by the Hollywood union SAG-AFTRA voted Monday evening to authorize a strike if they don't agree on a new contract with major studios, streamers and production companies by June 30.
Mallon FitzPatrick, managing director and head of wealth planning at Robertson Stephens, offers some tips for how first-time investors can dip their toe into the stock market.
Journalists at two dozen local newspapers across the U.S. walked off the job Monday to demand an end to painful cost-cutting measures and a change of leadership at Gannett, the country's biggest newspaper chain.
Apple on Monday unveiled a long-rumored headset that will place its users between the virtual and real world, while also testing the technology trendsetter's ability to popularize new-fangled devices after others failed to capture the public's imagination.
A new poll shows that nearly half of Americans want a minimalist lifestyle and 41% cited financial reasons for doing so. Joshua Becker, founder and editor of Becoming Minimalist, joined Cheddar News to discuss the financial and psychological benefits of removing the physical possessions not needed.
