Once upon a time

2013

We scaled a human hair extensions brand that used to operate out of a handbag into a 4 bricks & mortar branches. We grew the brand, which begun with 500 USD to a 2 million USD annual revenue & grew their team from 2 to 40 employees within 36 months.

Industry demand

2017

With this salon growth proving to be a dream success story for many people, we received an overwhelming demand from Salon brands. Imagine this: here's an industry with low barriers to entry, where you can start your own business with little capital & realise success at this scale.  JSE-Listed retailers also approached us, wanting to stock the product. We set out to create a robust solution set to deliver growth at scale: to transform the Africa hair industry.

That Aha moment!!

2018

After an 18 months industry due-diligence, observing the human hair extensions sector across Africa, we convened expert conversations with experts to discuss the report, including a dialogue with Sorbet salon Founder, Mr Ian Furh. Our industry findings revealed that hair is a 7 billion USD sector across the Africa continent. Recommendations pointed to the immediate need to fix the hair supply chain blind spots. A family friend & tech Exec suggested that we use the blockchain technology, which proved to be a clear glove-fit for the hair supply chain problems.

Seed Capital

2019

We discussed the disruptive concept with the IBM leadership. Through their equity equivalent investment programme, designed to identify scalable start-ups in South Africa, IBM provided us with the seed capital, with a 2nd funding tranche during COVID, to build the tech platform.