Naturaz, a haircare line for women with curly hair, has secured funding from local investors, writes Ryan Mulligan of the Philadelphia Business Journal. The Oaks-based startup has raised $1 million so far, half in the month of July.
The majority of the funding comes from the Philadelphia Community Impact Fund and the Bucks County Industrial Development Authority along with contributions from smaller individual investors.
Founder Mumbi Dunjwa started Naturaz in 2017 while working in Research and Development for GlaxoSmithKline. Dunjwa set out to create a healthy alternative to caring for curly hair, a challenge she has faced since her youth growing up in Kenya.
Naturaz products “sit at the intersection between health and beauty,” said Dunjwa.
The line includes a gel, spray, cream, moisturizer, and conditioning shampoo.
It has products in roughly 30 stores between New York and Washington, D.C. Dunjwa is in talks with large chains like Walmart and CVS to carry the line.
Dunjwa plans to use the funding to increase her marketing and sales team to expand its footprint throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
“We are hoping that … we will see just kind of this organic growth as we take on more distributors to actually serve the whole of the U.S.,” Dunjwa said.
Read more about Mumbi Dunjwa’s Naturaz haircare at the Philadelphia Business Journal.
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