*A Black hair care company owned by two women has raised over a million dollars in funding that was backed by Google.
Rachael Twumasi-Corson and Joycelyn Mate launched Afrocenchix in 2011 to deal with their hair issues — specifically alopecia. As reported by Black Enterprise, “the two women built Afrocenchix from the ground up, establishing themselves with their small customer base with products including its sulfate-free shampoo and a silicone-free conditioner,” the outlet writes.
READ MORE: New Study Confirms Hair Relaxers Can Increase Risk of Breast Cancer
We’re ready to spill the big news! Today, we officially launched our partnership with @superdrug! We’ll be rolling out to more stores across the country over the next few months. Thank you for all your support in getting us to this milestone! ☺️???????????? https://t.co/HBuLmRbErL pic.twitter.com/FDzysNn8tF
— Afrocenchix (@Afrocenchix) June 25, 2021
Here’s more from BE:
In June, after a decade of hard work, Afrocenchix raised $1.2 million in funding through Google’s Black Founders Fund. Additionally, Afrocenchix is the first Black-owned haircare company to have its products sold in Whole Foods UK.
Today, Afrocenchix haircare products are sold in 27 different countries, including the U.S., and 70% of its sales are through word of mouth. In addition to shampoo and conditioner, Afrocenchix has moisturizing creams, scalp oils and products to deal with dry hair and other hair problems. The website also features an introductory quiz to help customers find the right products for what they want to do with their hair.
The Afrocenchix blog notes that the products have made their way around the UK, USA, Canada, France, Germany, Dubai, Ghana, Nigeria, Sweden, Denmark, the Republic of Mauritius, Jamaica, Tobago, the Netherlands, India, South Africa, Kenya and Singapore.
As written on the blog in 2017:
In 2010 Afrocenchix won an award for ‘Ethical and Sustainable Business’ from the University of Birmingham. The judging panel were so impressed that they offered the founders more money if they registered the business officially and signed up to a business course. Neither had intended to start a business, Joycelyn was studying Sociology and Rachael was studying Law.
After some deliberation, the duo took the offer and Afrocenchix Ltd was born that July.
Afrocenchix has since been nominated for and won several awards for the business as well as the product line, including an award from UCL.
Learn more about the products via the clip below:
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