&#8220;She genuinely understands our brand and where we want to take it,&#8221; Courtney Weinblatt Fasciano, who co-founded the luxury bag company with Erin Ryder in 2018, tells PEOPLE
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Meghan Markle; Cesta Collective co-founders Erin Ryder and Courtney Weinblatt Fasciano.
Photo: Karwai Tang/WireImage; Courtesy Cesta Collective
With regards to putting resources into organizations, Meghan Markle understands what she&#8217;s searching for — and the most as of late declared business in her speculation portfolio, Cesta Aggregate, checked every one of the crates.
In another meeting with The New York Times distributed on Aug. 28, the Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍 reported that she was a financial backer in Cesta, a satchel organization that has some expertise in crate packs handwoven by an aggregate of ladies in Rwanda prior to being done in Italy.
&#8220;Courtney and Erin have a truly unimaginable and vital business,&#8221; Meghan, 43, said in an explanation. &#8220;The nature of a brand&#8217;s items, the store network, moral guidelines and practices — these are everything that I consider prior to making a speculation. With Cesta, I truly began to comprehend the number of ladies&#8217; lives that were being affected and elevate through their work. That meant quite a bit to me.&#8221;
Meghan was likewise dazzled with the brand&#8217;s fellow benefactors, Erin Ryder and Courtney Weinblatt Fasciano, who made Cesta in 2018 after professions in various parts of the design business crossing 10 years each — Ryder as a brand chief and Fasciano as a proofreader and showcasing chief.
&#8220;Erin and Courtney have an extraordinary family from their professions working in style and have made wonderful items that similarly help so many others,&#8221; Meghan said. &#8220;That was something I could get behind and backing.&#8221;
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Meghan was their “dream customer,” Fasciano tells PEOPLE exclusively, adding that she and Ryder appreciate Meghan’s insight and advice.
“She genuinely understands our brand and where we want to take it,” she says.
The relationship between Meghan and Cesta happened organically. After Meghan carried the brand’s Canvas Bucket Bag on a May 2023 dinner date with her husband, Prince Harry, “it brought more attention to the brand than we’d ever seen — a 910% increase in seven-day site traffic,” Ryder tells PEOPLE. “The following seven-day period was our most profitable week in company history.” (Meghan told The New York Times that she found out about Cesta while online shopping.)
From there, the duo sent Meghan a thank you note “which began a longer conversation around our shared values,” Fasciano says, “and the rest is history.”
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://people.com/thmb/Zoq16KEZPJh2_lXHjg8bcGaEbhk=/4000x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(839x0:841x2):format(webp)/cesta-founders-082924-dd8a63ca6c6e4277b0c8c22ffcd00fa5.jpg" width="1681" height="2000" data-src="https://people.com/thmb/Zoq16KEZPJh2_lXHjg8bcGaEbhk=/4000x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(839x0:841x2):format(webp)/cesta-founders-082924-dd8a63ca6c6e4277b0c8c22ffcd00fa5.jpg" data-sizes="4000px" data-expand="300" data-tracking-container="true" data-img-lightbox="true" data-click-tracked="true" />Cesta Collective co-founders Erin Ryder and Courtney Weinblatt Fasciano. 
Courtesy Cesta Collective
Cesta is currently still a team of two, Ryder said, “but we have big ambitions. Our goal is to build a brand that works with a large network of artisans globally, expanding our impact — and our category offering. We hope this will include ready-to-wear, footwear [and] additional accessories.”
Meghan’s exact investment is confidential, but Ryder and Fasciano confirmed to The New York Times that it was a minority stake. The Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍’s backing “allows us to focus on expanding our team and to build bench strength so we can go further faster,” Fasciano says. “We’ve already kicked off development in new geographies that we’re excited to introduce in the coming seasons.”
The two specifically chose Rwanda because basket weaving holds important significance in the country, Ryder said.
“It’s a rite of passage — a s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 often passed down from mother to daughter,” she adds. “In the aftermath of the country’s devastating genocide in 1994, women came together to weave baskets as a means of unifying — to heal their communities and to foster peace. Today, basket weaving continues to be important in Rwanda, as it offers income and empowerment to the women who craft them — and remains a symbol of hope and reconciliation. We are honored to work with artists in this medium.”
And honored to work with Meghan, who Fasciano described as “the kind of woman who embodies the brand’s fundamental ethos — not only is she a careful consumer and curator of her life, but she shares our commitment to service and to building a collective better future.”
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://people.com/thmb/DHgU2LosExK-82yLllWwaCIah8Q=/4000x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(1498x1384:1500x1386):format(webp)/GettyImages-2166238792-39f2e4238a554500aca5410654ae7e07.jpg" width="3440" height="4880" data-src="https://people.com/thmb/DHgU2LosExK-82yLllWwaCIah8Q=/4000x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(1498x1384:1500x1386):format(webp)/GettyImages-2166238792-39f2e4238a554500aca5410654ae7e07.jpg" data-sizes="4000px" data-expand="300" data-tracking-container="true" data-img-lightbox="true" data-click-tracked="true" />Meghan Markle in Bogota, Colombia on Aug. 15, 2024. 
Getty Images
Meghan is the brand’s first equity investor and strategic partner, and Ryder says of the Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍, &#8220;She doesn’t have to use her platform to make a difference in others’ lives, but she chooses to — and that’s inspiring and incredibly impactful. Imagine the positive change we could see in the world if more people embraced this mindset.”
As Cesta enters this next chapter of their business, “We feel good about where we are and even better about where we are heading,” Ryder says. “We are continually pushing towards a higher standard.”
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<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://people.com/thmb/ENhig8U0XUkFlUW1Pf5rW2DQm5I=/4000x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(780x317:782x319):format(webp)/meghan-markle-052324-abd0a2ecd35345809f6a1da03f3baed0.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" data-src="https://people.com/thmb/ENhig8U0XUkFlUW1Pf5rW2DQm5I=/4000x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(780x317:782x319):format(webp)/meghan-markle-052324-abd0a2ecd35345809f6a1da03f3baed0.jpg" data-sizes="4000px" data-expand="300" data-tracking-container="true" data-img-lightbox="true" data-click-tracked="true" />Meghan Markle attends an Invictus Games Friends and Family reception on April 15, 2022 in The Hague, Netherlands. 
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty
Meghan Markle Says She&#8217;s in Her &#8216;Chapter of Joy&#8217; During Visit to Colombia
Meghan also seems excited about the next stage in her life, one she referred to as her “chapter of joy” while visiting Colombia earlier this month. With an investment portfolio spanning between five to 10 brands, she’s also building a brand of her own: American Riviera Orchard, which PEOPLE confirmed on Aug. 28 is set to launch later this year.
Meghan is nearly four years into supporting female-led companies after her first investment with vegan instant latte company Clevr Blends in 2020.
&#8220;Investing in them has helped me line up for this chapter where I’m investing in myself,” Meghan told The New York Times.
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Meghan Markle was once Cesta Collective’s “dream client,” and now she’s officially become its first outside investor!