Welcome to Zaia Ventures
We build and scale businesses that serve underrepresented and marginalized communities
What we do
Build
Invest
We create and build inspirational businesses that serve underrepresented and marginalized communities in the United States and all around the world.
There are many incredible founders with compelling ideas that serve our target communities worldwide. We want to add fuel to your fire and help you grow.
Advise
Spark
We bring decades of experience to deliver consulting and advisory services that help you start, build, and scale a profitable and purposeful organization.
Speaking at events and conferences near and far, we’re passionate about all things creativity, technology, representation, and transformation.
Spaces we love
Zaia Ventures focuses on industries with engaging and inspiring consumer touch points on and offline. We seek to build businesses that people love, respect, and are inspired by.
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Together, we have the opportunity to shape the future of what brings us joy and escapism. For too long, our target communities have been an afterthought (or none at all) for the established industry and we believe we can change that.
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We are excited about creating exceptional products and services that serve the unmet needs of our target communities.
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Technology will continue to shape how we live and work and will be foundational to all the ventures we build and scale. In an age of acceleration and abundance, we want to create and scale technologies that positively impact the way we live our lives.
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We are excited about marketplaces that center our target communities and make it faster, easier, and more affordable for them to meet their needs.
The adventure so far…
Our founder has over 25 years of experience as a global operational P&L leader and marketing executive delivering market-leading results at some of the world's largest and most loved brands and businesses.
Founder
Ukonwa Ojo
Ukonwa Ojo is the CEO and founder of Zaia Ventures, a company committed to creating and scaling businesses for underrepresented and marginalized communities. Prior to this, she was the Global CMO and US General Manager for Amazon Prime Video & Studios. During her tenure, she combined data driven/analytical decision-making, cross-functional team leadership, and award-winning creativity to deliver the best performance in Prime Video history.
She led the global marketing team to double annual customer acquisitions, which helped Amazon Prime Video replace Netflix as the #1 US Streamer for the first time ever, launched 8 of the top 10 shows in Prime Video History, and improved marketing efficiency to its best ever.
She has also served as the Global CMO for MAC Cosmetics and Coty Consumer Beauty and Global Brand President for COVERGIRL. During her career, she has won over 60 awards and honors, including Forbes World’s Most Influential CMOs, Financial Times Top 100 list of Minority Executives for three consecutive years, Forbes World’s Most Influential CMOs, WWD’s Brand Builder of the Year, Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 and Essence Black Women in Hollywood.
She is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and a Member of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women. Ojo is a graduate of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina and holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Want to talk?
A few different options for getting in touch with Zaia Ventures.