Liha Beauty, a UK-based organic skincare company, has raised £1 million in funding from a private equity investor. This follows the £200,000 raised by the pair when they participated in the VirginStartup CrowdBoost programme – an accelerator designed for founders looking to run a successful equity-based crowdfunding campaign.
Founded in 2014 by British-Nigerian duo, Liha Okunniwa and Abi Oyepitan, Liha Beauty creates “beauty products that are a mixture of natural West African plant-based wisdom with English aromatherapy. Some of the products include sustainably-produced scented candles and other multipurpose, unisex, vegan self care products.
Liha says that the investment will be channeled into team building and “being a lot more forward-facing and getting the brand out there.”
Abi, a former Olympic athlete, and Liha, an art book publisher, met at Brunel University in 1998 and became friends. Though they met in the United Kingdom, they both have roots tracing back to Nigeria. They started Liha Beauty when they finished school with £3000 each of their savings in their kitchens. They then upgraded to a windowless 10ftx 6ft studio, then to studios we had to share with other brands to cover the rent, hustling like our lives depended on it.
Posting on her LinkedIn page, Liha said “The raise has been long and arduous in this climate and we are elated to have beaten the odds! Start up life is no joke and it is so important to take time to celebrate every single win, large or small -be it reading 5 star reviews, getting a new stockist, or closing a raise.”
Okunniwa shared with WWD, “We’re doing low-hanging fruit, things that people have always asked for, that we know our customers want. Then next year, we’re going to step into and own that innovation space, bringing out really new ingredients that people have never seen before, which is the thing that I am most excited about.”
