Nairobi-based Uncover, a skincare brand with sunscreen, serum, sheet masks and more for women with melanated skin, has raised $1.4 million in an oversubscribed funding round to heighten its presence in existing markets and expand beyond them.
Eager to capitalize on the demand for beauty products in Africa, the world’s fastest-growing global region for beauty in which sales are accelerating at twice the rate of North America, EQ2 Ventures and IgniteXL Ventures led the round, with participation from Chui Ventures, Samata Capital and Altree Capital. It brings Uncover’s total funding to just over $3 million and will support the debut of a website in the United States in two months. The brand is currently available in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda.
“In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, people don’t have a skincare routine or simply use Vaseline or bar soap. They are still emerging into the category, and Uncover focuses on relatable, easy customer education to drive overall category growth. The per capita spending in Kenya or Nigeria is a fraction of what it is in the U.S, and there is still so much room to grow,” says Sneha Mehta, co-founder and CEO of Uncover. “We also see an opportunity for Uncover in global markets like North America, where product R&D and clinical testing has broadly excluded women of color.”
Launched in 2021 with sheet masks, Uncover was developed with $100,000 from Antler, the investment firm facilitating the realization of entrepreneurial ideas, and $225,000 in angel funding. The development was informed by a 1,000-person survey of women in Africa showing that, among those already erecting a skincare routine, they were turning to brands such as Nivea, L’Oréal and Garnier that were not designed for them and fell flat when addressing their leading skincare concerns, acne and hyperpigmentation.
Today, Uncover has 10 products priced from $18 to $35. Its bestsellers are I Am Protected Aloe Invisible Sunscreen and I Am Radiant Baobab Glow-C Serum. The products are manufactured in South Korea and contain African botanicals like baobab, argan and rooibos. About 80% of Uncover’s sales come from retailers, including Perfect Trust Beauty & Wellness and Medplus. It’s in around 300 stores in Kenya and 250 stores in Nigeria.
“Africa’s beauty and wellness sector is poised for substantial growth, and Uncover is disrupting the sector with the first brand made by and for women in Africa.”
In 2023, Uncover generated $1 million in sales, up from $250,000 the prior year, and is expected to generate $2.5 million in sales this year. The brand broke even in the fourth quarter last year, but then decided to dedicate capital to enlarging its team, now standing at 30 people. Uncover is on course to break even again in roughly a year, according to Mehta.
She says the brand’s direct-to-consumer customers are evenly split between new and repeat customers. Across its DTC and retail distribution, she estimates 70% of customers return to purchase Uncover products. The brand has amassed a digital community of 200,000 and 35,000-plus data points on consumers. Its core audience is 25- to 35-year-olds in the urban centers of Kenya and Nigeria, but 15- to 25-year-olds are a secondary and increasing audience.
Together with its products, Uncover has created digital tools to learn about customers and deliver products and messages suited to them. It has an online skin quiz and will be introducing the quiz to WhatsApp. On the Meta-owned app, it’s enabled commerce and a loyalty program.
“We have only scratched the surface on data. It drives personalization in our marketing and recommendations. We can tailor our recommendations to skin needs and concerns,” says Mehta. “This is an area that bigger skincare brands don’t have a hold on. We see this as a really strong asset if it ever came to an acquisition.”
“We want to be a global brand that has impact.”
In a statement, Claire Chang, founder and general partner at IgniteXL Ventures, a returning Uncover investor, says, “We are incredibly impressed with Uncover’s use of data and technology to understand their core customer’s needs. By adopting a data-centric approach, Uncover has built one of Africa’s most engaged, loyal digital communities. Africa’s beauty and wellness sector is poised for substantial growth, and Uncover is disrupting the sector with the first brand made by and for women in Africa.”
Along with Africa’s market potential, Mehta points out Uncover’s potential in North America was a draw for investors. She says the brand has been receiving daily requests via Instagram for its products from members of the African diaspora living in North America. Additionally, co-founder and COO Jade Oyateru hosted well-received pop-ups during the Columbia Africa Conference in New York City and the Doing Business In Nigeria Conference in Houston last year. As it gets underway in the U.S., Uncover plans to enter smaller e-tailers and retailers to complement its DTC distribution.
The brand’s co-founders were a draw for investors, too. Mehta was formerly a consultant for the World Bank Group and McKinsey & Co., an associate at Helios Investment Partners and an investment officer at Grassroots Business Fund. Oyateru was formerly senior brand manager at Unilever and digital marketing director at Kasha Global. Uncover had a third co-founder, Catherine Lee, a documentarian and behavioralist, at the outset.
Mehta anticipates Uncover won’t have to raise funds for another round for two and a half to four years. The brand has four products in the pipeline due out within the next nine months. Body care and supplements are on its product to-do list. Glancing ahead five years, Mehta forecasts Uncover’s community will reach 2 million.
“We do a lot of storytelling about uncovering. It’s a powerful brand that stands for highly effective science-backed products approved by women of color, but also a brand standing for authenticity,” she says. “Think Dove and what they have created with Real Beauty. We want to do that by prioritizing women that have been told for generations they are not beautiful. We want to be a global brand that has impact.”
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