Joycelyn Mate and Rachael Twumasi-Corson founded Afrocenchix in 2011.
This is a company that sells natural and organic hair care products for women with curly, tightly coiled, and Afro hair.
They formed the company to help themselves and others like them to take care of their hair in the healthiest way possible.
They were inspired to form the company when they found that many hair care products for Black women contained toxic and artificial chemicals.
Mate and Twumasi-Corson started Afrocenchix from the ground up.
They established themselves with natural products like a silicone-free conditioner and a sulfate-free shampoo.
It’s been a long, hard road for the company, but after a decade, Afrocenchix has finally raised $1.2 million.
This was possible through Google’s Black Founders Fund.
That’s not the company’s only achievement, though.
It has also become the first Black-owned hair care company whose products are sold in Whole Foods UK.
Early on in the business, Mate and Twumani-Corson’s faced their fair share of challenges. Critics undermined their beauty knowledge, belittled their experiences, and many investors believed that the Black hair care industry was not a worthy business venture.
According to Twumasi-Corson, when they were fundraising, some people asked them why they were talking about Africa and pointed out that Africans were poor.
Needless to say, this was both a strange and unsettling experience for the ambitious pair.
Nowadays, Afrocenchix has grown significantly. Its hair care products are being sold in 27 different countries, including the United States.
Word of mouth caters for 70% of its sales so far.
Other than conditioners and shampoos, they also sell scalp oils and products, and moisturizing creams.
Their products are made to deal with dry hair and other problems. To help customers find the right product for them, the company’s official website also has an introductory quiz.
In recent years, the Black hair care industry has achieved tremendous growth as Black people have gotten tired of products that don’t really suit them.
They have created a plethora of effective natural products to sell to other Black people.
Afrocenchix is one of the brands that are pushing this growth and profiting from it. After its significant funding, it will hopefully reach even greater heights.
