Nairobi based skincare company Uncover has today announced the raise of a total of $1 million in seed. The company co-founded by Mehta, jade Oyateru and Catherine Lee with an aim to build a data-driven, digital-first health and wellness brand for the African woman says it will use the raise to expand its operations in Kenya and build a footprint throughout Africa.
The company reported that it secured USD 1 million in seed funding from iFirstCheck Africa, Samata Capital, Future Africa, IgniteXL, and several angel investors.
The company also announced plans to enter the Nigerian market in January 2023. Nigeria has one of the continent’s largest personal-brand and beauty marketplaces, with a market value of N1tr, according to a survey by Euromonitor.
“We are so proud of this important milestone in our journey and couldn’t be more excited to have our new investors as partners,” Uncover co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Sneha Mehta said.
According to him, the cash will be utilized to launch more products, expand into new areas, and enhance our technology and analytics. This will enable us to generate, reach, and market our audience more efficiently.
Jade Oyateru, co-founder and chief operating officer of Uncover, stated that the company’s mission is to guarantee that African women can access high-quality, reasonably priced skincare products designed to address their skin conditions.
“We are prioritizing African women and not treating them as an afterthought. The fact that this investment would support our objectives to expand into markets on the continent excites me,” said Ms Oyateru.
Uncover has outsourced its production to the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to create stability testing and safe product ingredients and formulas. South Korea is one of the world’s largest markets for beauty products and has top-notch technology, making it the perfect place for Uncover to produce its products.
As a result of Uncover’s production process, Ms Oyateru says, “we have made sure that our products are healthy, safe, nourishing, inexpensive, and efficient and specifically made for women in Africa.” Ms Mehta reports that, since the startup’s introduction, its income has multiplied, helped by the rising demand for its products. This has resulted in a 20x increase in monthly revenue and a passionate and active community of around 60K women.
Speaking on the funding, FirstCheck Africa Co-Founder & General Partner, Eloho Omame said: “Since we invested, the company’s growth has been incredible, and the team is already working on its third country entry. FirstCheck Africa is thrilled to have been one of Uncover’s earliest backers.”
