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Three ladies have developed an app that could potentially disrupt the black hair industry. The mobile app Tress lets black women share and find hairstyles, products, salons, and more.
3 founders
The founders behind the app are Esther Olatunde, Cassandra Sarfo, and Priscilla Hazel. They are from Ghana and Nigeria. The three ladies, who met at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology program, an incubator for African startups, took note of how fast the haircare industry was growing in the continent saw and identified an opportunity to cater to African women.
“It’s surprisingly difficult to find accurate information about hairstyles,” Hazel said. “Many ladies routinely find themselves in the awkward position of walking up to complete strangers to compliment and inquire about their hair, or stalk social media accounts for inspiration as well as adequate information about the style.”
The three developed an app to fix this issue.
Connecting black women everywhere
“Join a fun, passionate community of black women from around the world sharing and discovering new hairstyles!” The app takes all of the awkwardness out of asking strangers about their hair. Users take a picture of their hairstyle, or “tressie” as the app calls it, upload it to Tress, and include information about the look: the brand of hair extension, products used, the salon and stylist who created it, price, etc. All of this information is available to anyone who has downloaded the app.
“This information will provide value to your friends, who might be considering trying out your look. We built Tess with a lot of love and consideration, because ladies always have questions about beautiful hairstyles,” the site states.
Big business
The haircare sector in Africa is a billion dollar industry. $1.1 billion worth of shampoos, relaxers, and hair lotions were sold in South Africa, Nigeria and Cameroon in 2013. And in the United States alone, the black hair industry is projected to reach $761 million by 2017. A consumer report found that African American women spend nine times more on hair than any other demographic in America. The founders have a big vision for their app. Since Nigeria has the biggest beauty industry in Africa, the team is planning to start marketing their app there. Then, they hope to build a strong network throughout West Africa and expand to countries such as Kenya and South Africa.
“We’re excited to have Tress become active in all kinds of media products for black women – television, magazines, events, and more,” Hazel said. “Our vision for Tress is to be an active social network of black women thriving in all aspects of their lives, and we’re keen to partner with like minded organizations and individuals who’re excited to help make this happen.”
Tress is currently available only in the Google Play Store and the team is working on releasing an iOS version.
