Dear ICA Community,
We are extremely grateful for the support of our Bay Area friends and partners. With your help, we have deployed interest-free loans to 7 companies so far through our Rapid Response Liquidity Fund.
Most of all, we are inspired by the incredible efforts of the entrepreneurs in the ICA network who are undaunted by the current crisis. I wanted to take this moment to spotlight two of ICA’s companies that were recently featured in national media this week.
Investment company Red Bay Coffee featured in Forbes: Red Bay Coffee owner and founder, Keba Konte talks about the East Oakland coffee roaster’s pivot to online sales in the face of the COVID shutdown, the company’s new mobile coffee van, and his grand vision for Red Bay, pandemic notwithstanding.
Accelerator grad Reem’s showcased in The New Yorker: In a poignant video, Reem Assil, founder of Reem's, an Arab eatery with 2 locations, reflects on the challenges posed by the pandemic, her commitment to feeding the community, and her work to build a lasting business steeped in “Arab hospitality”.
We’ll have more good news to share with you next week. In the meantime, if you would like to shop at Reem’s or order from Red Bay coffee, you can find them and close to 30 other ICA companies in our marketplace: icamarketplace.org.
With gratitude,
Allison Kelly, CEO
