Enygma Ventures announced today a R4 million investment into Brown and Ayo, an aspirational lifestyle hair brand, focused on natural hairstyles and trends for black women, in South Africa.
“We are super excited about this investment as natural hairstyles and products are a fast-growing trend in an extremely lucrative industry” said Lelemba Phiri, operating partner & principal of Enygma Ventures.
“Brown and Ayo have a proven track record of being steps ahead of the trend, whilst serving a powerfully growing yet often ignored consumer – the black woman.”
Since 2019 Brown and Ayo have been providing a range of natural hair extensions created to mimic black natural hair textures through their online store. They pride themselves in bringing both trendy and well-loved products to the South African black woman consumer.
“We are overjoyed about our partnership with Enygma Ventures which provides both financial and strategic support,” Acanda Jaswa, Founder of Brown and Ayo, stated.
“This will allow us to execute on our vision to scale across Africa and globally.”
Jaswa, who is also a graduate of the Graca Machel Trust’s – Women Creating Wealth Program.
“As a solo black female founder operating outside of traditional technology, my odds for raising significant VC funding were low. It is thus very exciting to be backed by Enygma Ventures and their diverse team that understand this exciting sector and have been extremely valuable in supporting me to think strategically about growing my business”.
Also read: Rudo: Is This The Next ‘Uber of Personal Care Services’ in South Africa?
1 Comment
I’m so excited to see companies like Enygma Ventures investing in black owned businesses like Brown and Ayo. Supporting diversity and inclusion in the beauty industry is very important and I am always on the lookout for great salons that cater to all hair types. One salon that I highly recommend is this hair salon – they offer a wide range of services and their team is incredibly skilled and well versed in all hair types. If you are in the area I would definitely recommend visiting them!