Rachael Twumasi-Corson and Joycelyn Mate began Afrocenchix in 2011 to assist with their alopecia, however the two Black girls ended up with far more.
In their search to cope with their hair points, the pair discovered lots of the haircare merchandise out there for Black girls contained synthetic and poisonous chemical substances. Twumasi-Corson and Mate constructed Afrocenchix from the bottom up, establishing themselves with their small buyer base with merchandise together with its sulfate-free shampoo and a silicone-free conditioner.
In June, after a decade of laborious work, Afrocenchix raised $1.2 million in funding by Google’s Black Founders Fund. Additionally, Afrocenchix is the primary Black-owned haircare firm to have its merchandise offered in Whole Foods UK.
The street to success wasn’t a easy one for the 2 girls. Early of their fundraising, Twumasi-Corson and Mate’s magnificence data was criticized, their experiences have been belittled, and buyers didn’t imagine the Black haircare trade was value getting concerned in.
“We had somebody ask, ‘Why are you speaking about Africa?’ and make jokes about Africans being poor,” Twumasi-Corson advised Business Insider. “It was a really unusual expertise.
Today, Afrocenchix haircare merchandise are offered in 27 completely different nations, together with the U.S., and 70% of its gross sales are by phrase of mouth. In addition to shampoo and conditioner, Afrocenchix has moisturizing lotions, scalp oils and merchandise to cope with dry hair and different hair issues. The web site additionally options an introductory quiz to assist prospects discover the fitting merchandise for what they wish to do with their hair.
The Black haircare trade has skyrocketed lately as Black women and men have taken issues into their very own palms, making a bevy of pure haircare merchandise to promote to their very own folks. According to a CNBC report, the Black haircare trade is valued at greater than $2.5 billion and that doesn’t embrace hair equipment, wigs or electrical styling merchandise. The true worth is way greater.
Afrocenchix isn’t the one Black-owned firm profiting within the black haircare trade. Dave Salvant and Songe LaRon created Squire, an utility on each Android and Apple for barbershop homeowners and prospects to simply make and handle barber appointments in addition to pay for them on or offline.
Squire simply introduced a Series D funding haul of $60 million, bringing the full valuation of the corporate to $750 million.
Check out pages from their pitch deck.
https://www.blackenterprise.com/afrocenchix-a-black-haircare-company-raised-1-2-million-in-funding-backed-by-google/
