香港六合彩中特网

香港六合彩中特网 alumna Rachael Twumasi-Corson co-founded Afrocenchix to develop natural and safe afro haircare products.

Afrocenchix is now valued at over 拢12 million with annual sales of around 拢650,000 in 27 countries, and backers including Google. UK stockists include Superdrug and Whole Foods Market, and the company is now aiming to target the US and African markets.

While growing the business, the team is on a mission to challenge mainstream perceptions of beauty in society and to celebrate afro hair. They鈥檝e also highlighted the considerable barriers faced by black women entrepreneurs, who attract just 0.03% of all venture capital funding.

The science and business of cosmetics

Rachael and her co-founder grew up using harsh chemicals to straighten and 鈥榯ame鈥� their natural afro hair. As adults, they became increasingly concerned about the growing body of evidence suggesting that these chemicals might cause harm over time, with potential links to cancers, respiratory problems and adverse skin conditions. They wondered if there might be a natural alternative to caring for afro hair that also celebrated, rather than subjugated, afro hairstyles.

With just 拢100 they bought some ingredients and started experimenting with natural formulations. They established Afrocenchix in 2010, selling products through word of mouth and to family and friends, while also researching the science and business of cosmetics.

Rachael had long harboured a passion for science, and undertook a Master鈥檚 degree in Medical Anthropology at 香港六合彩中特网, while still running the business.

鈥淎frocenchix is really all about health and wellbeing. We started, largely because of our alopecia and my eczema, trying to come up with a solution. We also talked a lot about how strange it is that, as a black woman, you don't feel as though you鈥檙e acceptable in the workplace unless you have straight hair. And the way to straighten your hair is to apply very dangerous, toxic chemicals.

鈥淚n terms of the Master鈥檚, medical anthropology is very much a cross-cultural study of health and illness, and perceptions of illness and how it should be treated. So there were some overlaps there.鈥�

Becoming a fully-fledged business

To grow the business, Rachael entered the 香港六合彩中特网 Bright Ideas competition in 2015 (now Build your own business 3: Launch your business) and won.

Afrocenchix then joined BaseKX, 香港六合彩中特网鈥檚 entrepreneurship hub, managed by 香港六合彩中特网 Innovation & Enterprise, where they received free, tailored support and dedicated office space.

鈥淲e鈥檇 built up this community and this tribe and that meant that in 2017 we were able to launch our first proper website and could hire our first employees,鈥� says Rachael.

Ethically scaling up production听

Afrocenchix has gone on to win several awards including the 鈥楤est Natural Hair Brand鈥� in both the Precious Hair and Beauty Awards, and BBFA (Black Beauty and Fashion) Awards. It鈥檚 also been named one of the 鈥榟ottest Black-led startups in Europe鈥� by CityAM.

After a successful pre-seed round in 2019, the founders have now been backed by Google in the latest $1.2 million seed round. Having sold over 70,000 products to date, Afrocenchix has been using the funds to grow the team to 14 people. They鈥檙e developing three new products for release over the next year.

鈥淲e have a lot more demand than we can actually supply so the biggest thing is scaling up manufacturing. We're still doing a lot of production in house, but we have better machinery and we've started outsourcing to a partner factory who share the same ethics and sustainability values.鈥�

Tackling business bias

Rachael has also written about the many barriers and occasional discrimination that she鈥檚 faced as a black woman entrepreneur, particularly when trying to raise vital funds to grow the business.

鈥淚 don't like to dwell on the negatives too much. Especially in business, you need to be an optimist. But the reality is you have to let people know what's going on if it鈥檚 going to change.听

鈥淚 think we need serious reform because we're potentially missing out on the next Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg simply because their name sounds African or Asian or they鈥檙e a woman or they鈥檙e disabled. That's the crux of it.鈥�

For Rachael, the best way she can challenge perceptions in the industry and make a difference, is by continuing to work hard and grow Afrocenchix into a globally successful, visible business.

Links

Find out more about:

• Entrepreneurship support for 香港六合彩中特网 students and alumni
• 香港六合彩中特网 Anthropology
• 香港六合彩中特网 Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences

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