Meet Olamide Olowe, youngest black woman to raise $10m in funding

Meet Olamide Olowe, youngest black woman to raise $10m in funding

Founder and CEO of Topicals Skincare, Olamide Olowe currently holds the record as the youngest Black woman ever to secure over $2 million in venture funding at the age of 26.

The milestone earned a spot in Forbes 30 Under 20 list in 2022 as she closed a significant $10 million financing round, with CAVU Consumer Partners taking the lead.

Riding on its status as the fastest-growing skincare brand at Sephora, Topicals has captured the attention of Gen-Z consumers through savvy marketing campaigns on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, coupled with striking packaging and a commitment to mental health advocacy.

Founded in 2020, the company witnessed an impressive three-fold increase in revenue in 2021, achieving the remarkable feat of selling one product per minute in 2022.

Beneath the surface, Topicals is driven by a noble mission: to combat the stigma surrounding chronic skin conditions, affecting more than 85 million Americans, by developing products backed by rigorous scientific research.

Olowe, drawing from her personal experiences growing up with chronic skin conditions and her tenure at Shea Moisture during her undergraduate years at UCLA, has been instrumental in shaping Topicals’ ethos.

She identified a glaring gap in the market for skincare products catering to darker skin tones and endeavored to rewrite the narrative surrounding chronic skin conditions for diverse communities.

Olamide Olowe on how to build a beloved brand

Olamide Olowe shared her top three strategies for building a beloved brand:

– Define your purpose and brand ethos clearly and remain dedicated to it.

– Embrace cultural influences. As a data-driven founder, Olowe emphasises infusing data with cultural insights to resonate with customers authentically.

– Cultivate partnerships that share your vision and bolster your mission. Olowe underscores the significance of strategic partners, like CAVU Consumer Partners, who provide not only financial support but also expertise and guidance.

At the heart of Topicals’ philosophy lies the power of storytelling, serving as a catalyst for open conversations about mental health and challenging conventional beauty standards.

Despite industry pressures to churn out new products incessantly, Olowe emphasizes the importance of meticulous research and development to ensure the efficacy of Topicals’ offerings.

Aspiring entrepreneurs are urged by Olamide Olowe to confront self-doubt head-on and embrace the mantra of “Why not me?” as they embark on their entrepreneurial journeys.