Uncover Skincare,a Kenyan-based one stop shop for skincare products , has secured $1 million seed funding to enable it expand its operations in Kenya and to Nigeria by January.
FirstCheck Africa, Samata Capital, Future Africa, IgniteXL participated in the round, in addition angel investors ex-SokoWatch COO, Kwenhui Tawah, and ex-L’Oreal executive and current WPP Scangroup CEO, Patricia Ithau. The new funding brings the total amount raised by Uncover, since launch in 2020, to $1.225 million.
“We are using the funding to launch more products, go into additional markets, and also double down on our tech and data to effectively produce, reach and market to our audience,” Uncover co-founder and CEO, Sneha Mehta told TechCrunch.
The company lately unveiled new range of skincare products and it plans to launch more next year .Their products are sold on its online platform, on marketplaces, and in the stores of partner brands.
The company which was born after incubation at Antler uses African botanicals and outsources its manufacturing to Korean original design manufacturers.
“Our production happens in Korea ,one of the world’s biggest beauty markets , where we are leveraging the best technology, labs, and scientists in the world who understand stability testing, safe ingredients, and formulations. We are able to deliver because women in our community have graciously provided information and tried our products, to help us formulate specifically for this market,” said Mehta.
Besides the products, the company also provides virtual consultations by an in-house esthetician, and produces skin-tertainment content to reach more users, and they also introduced a skin quiz for personalized recommendations.
“I have experienced the lack of safety in products firsthand, the lack of information and the feeling of being stuck. This is part of the reason why we are building these tools for people to get personalized information, and advice including diet tips.”
The startup’s revenue has grown 20-fold following the increasing demand for its products, and the community it continues to build.
“We have had incredible traction since, and our community has grown from zero to about 60,000 women in Kenya in two years… we have built brand awareness, loyalty, and our values of education and knowledge and empowerment have been established at the market,” she said.