This IWD: The trailblazing founders shaking up the hair game

Celebrating the strength and power of women

March 08, 2023

✌️ G’DAY

Welcome to Startups Will Save Us, a newsletter for founders building solutions to the climate crisis and the investors who back them, powered by Raaise.

Each week, we’ll share insights from a climate startup on the ups and downs of capital raising in the climate era, including the inside scoop on the one thing they found most helpful on their fundraising journey.

Know anyone who’d find this useful? You know what to do. 👇

🚀 TIWANI HERITAGE:

Founded in 2020 by two childhood friends, Lola Cawood and Carol Lathbridge, Tiwani Heritage makes gorgeous, sustainable hair extensions and wigs that celebrate the strength, beauty and diversity of Black women and Women of Colour. By naming each style after an African queen, Lola and Carol are hoping to educate, inspire and empower their customers. 👸🏿

We wanted to create a lifestyle brand that Black consumers could go to and feel looked after. Often, in this business, you have to deal with faceless manufacturers and faceless retailers, and we wanted to really connect with our community.

In addition to championing Black culture, history and community, Tiwani Heritage is tackling an oft-neglected environmental problem—each year, approximately 21,000 tonnes of synthetic hair end up in UK landfills! 🤯

In addition to recycling their own and other brands’ synthetic hair products, Tiwani Heritage has revolutionised the industry by manufacturing hair extensions from a plant-based material that is incredibly versatile, reusable, and home-compostable. The material in question is a natural byproduct of banana and pineapple farming and has been traditionally used in the manufacture of rugs, ropes, bags, and even clothing.

Our plant-based hair braiding extensions can be disposed of together with other food waste, where they take about 6 months to biodegrade, with virtually zero environmental impact. They’re also much better for your health, especially if you have a sensitive scalp or an allergy to synthetic materials.

Having been bootstrapped since the get-go, Lola and Carol have just opened up their seed round and are looking to raise £500,000. As well as cultivating relationships with a number of angel investors and VCs, Lola and Carol are keen to give equity crowdfunding a go.

We strongly believe in the power of our community to help Tiwani Heritage grow, especially as we look to scale the business globally.

As they continue to build momentum for their seed raise, Lola and Carol’s advice to other entrepreneurs is, “It doesn’t have to be a slog”.

Pitching to investors is the fun part. We love talking about our brand, sharing our passion, and talking about Tiwani Heritage’s mission. The more investors you talk to, the better you’ll become at pitching your business and completing a successful raise, so embrace those conversations!

🛠 ABP—ALWAYS BE PITCHING:

If you’ve raised capital before, you’ll know that one pitch deck usually isn’t enough. Sometimes a teaser will do, while, at other times, investors want to see a full deck, with every single assumption backed up by data. That’s why we’re building step-by-step workflows to help you present what you need, when you need it. Stay tuned. 👀

And if you haven’t signed up for our beta waitlist yet, get on it—there are only a few spots left.👇

🎤 EVENTS:

🇦🇺 10th Mar: Film screening of Fighting Giants, Subiaco (WA). Free.🇬🇧 22nd Mar: Mastering PR for your Sustainable Business, London. £15.🇬🇧 29th Mar: London Climate Connection: 3 Talks, 100 people, all climate. Free.

Got a climate startup event you’d love us to shout about? Let us know.

🚨 WHAT’S CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION:

Should the climatetech community care about what the government’s doing? Yes, according to Ada Ventures’ partner Check Warner—climatetech founders can do much more to ensure policymakers put their money where their mouth is. 🧐

🤩 ICYMI

Our friends at Pleasant State are flying high after taking home yet another accolade for their efforts to create a sparkling clean world, free of toxic cleaning chemicals and single-use plastics. 🏆 Soon, you’ll get a chance to own a share in this incredible startup, as they prepare to crowdfund the next stage of their growth. Keep an eye on these two founders—they’re going places. 💃🏽

🌱 JOIN US

If you're a founder building a startup for the climate era and you want to try out our fundraising tools before anyone else, sign up for our beta now. 👇

Investors, want early 👀 on quality dealflow and some snazzy tools to help streamline your dealmaking? Hit the button. 👇