Geneva-based ACE & Company has made a six-figure investment in Source Beauty, a leading e-commerce beauty platform. Participating in this round is also a group of angel investors that are renowned for investing in the beauty industry.
“We are thrilled to be working with this prestigious group of investors to help strategically grow our brand even further. Their investment in Source Beauty is a testament to their conviction that we are a promising business in an underserved, yet growing market. I am pleased with our performance and journey to date, and look forward to continuing listening and addressing our customers’ needs,” Lydia Schoonderbeek, founder and CEO of Source Beauty said.
Here Is What You Need To Know
- Ace & Company’s investment in Source Beauty is the startup’s second investment round.
- In May this year Source Beauty secured investment from the venture capital firm 500 Startups. Although 500 Startups did not disclose the amount involved in this round of funding, the venture capital firm is known generally to invest $150,000 in companies that take part in its Seed Accelerator programme, with the possibility of follow-on investment of up to an additional $500,000 or 20% of your next priced round of $1,000,000 or more, whichever is lower.
- The startup intends to utilise the proceeds from this fundraiser to deepen its market share in the Egyptian market, increase brand marketing to drive overall awareness as well as grow its team.
“With the help of this new funding, we will be able to continue our growth and to power additional brands that respond to our customers’ needs. We will build a stronger team, hire new talent, have more marketing muscle and continue to invest in new technologies. We will continue to focus on our value proposition to our customers and address existing gaps in the market in terms of organic Fairtrade beauty and local alternatives,” Source Beauty said.
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Why The Investors Invested
“It is always refreshing to meet and listen to entrepreneurs and startups with the vision and potential to cause genuine change in the market. This investment reflects the extent of ACE’s attention given to emerging businesses that contribute to the empowerment of women and to the support of local suppliers. We look forward to seeing Source Beauty grow multiple folds in the next period,” Sherif El Halwagy, co-founder and Managing Director of ACE & Company said.
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A Look At What Source Beauty Does
Established in 2018, Source Beauty was founded by Lydia Schoonderbeek. With its new-to-the market business model, Source Beauty has grown its sales orders seven-fold and simultaneously increased revenues nine-fold since their launch. The e-commerce platform has increased its offering to 80 brands with more than 3,500 individual products that include local and international players in the beauty industry.
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From an economic standpoint, it is undeniable that Egypt’s beauty industry has a positive contribution to the Egyptian economy, with an anticipated market size in excess of USD 200 million. Schoonderbeek explains:
“Millennial consumers use social media platforms to keep up with beauty trends and for purchase motivation. Source Beauty guides them and focuses on building a personalized relationship with each of its customers’ beauty needs providing a user-friendly browsing and buying experience. Despite the current unfortunate pandemic situation, we have seen growth in our customer base and sales numbers.”
“The local beauty market remains widely untapped and growing year-on-year at around 15 to 20%. Keen on shaping the market while capturing a major share, we’ve introduced monthly beauty subscription boxes, a pillar in our value proposition, providing women with high-quality local alternatives that are affordable. Later on, in the year, we look forward to having further investors who support such initiatives to join us onboard, ” Lydia further said.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer