Hardware Podcasts

Founder Feature: Akua Boakye Okunseinde of Karité

The Startup CPG Podcast · 21 Feb 2025 · 37m · Episode 124

What this episode covers

Akua Boakye Okunseinde, co-founder of Karité, explains how she and her sisters—Dr. Nana Bellachi and a lawyer—bootstrapped the brand from 2013 to 2017, leveraging Dr. Nana’s dermatology practice to formulate clinically tested shea butter products. The company launched with a hand cream, expanded to body cream and lip balm, and secured early retail partnerships with Detox Market while navigating the shift to Amazon and omnichannel distribution. Akua details their ethical sourcing from women-led cooperatives in Ghana, the importance of clinical efficacy data, and their strategy of using micro-influencers and direct retailer education to drive growth.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Karité, Detox Market, Amazon, Sula Lab, Whole Foods, Saks.com, Four Seasons, Miraval
Products
Hand Cream, Body Cream, Lip Balm
Materials
Shea Butter

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