OXOSI.com, an e-commerce platform for contemporary and luxury African design and Kupanda Holdings held a press conference at the 2nd U.S.-Africa Business Forum held in New York on September 21, 2016 to officially announce their partnership.
Kupanda Holdings will provide seed funding intended to accelerate the company’s growth.
“OXOSI addresses one-sided and antiquated perceptions of Africa by exposing global consumers to African luxury fashion.” said Bobby Pittman, Managing Partner of Kupanda Capital. “We see tremendous opportunity in the management team’s vision and are pleased to provide our business building expertise and global network to accelerate OXOSI’s growth.”
“Africa is happening. Under the term we’ve coined Afromodernism, the global presence and influence of African creative culture and its diaspora is stronger than it has ever been, and getting stronger by the day,” said Akin Adebowale, co-founder, CEO and Creative Director of OXOSI. “OXOSI brings Africa to the world with a three-component platform that consists of commerce, content, and community.”
“We believe that a large opportunity exists internationally for leading luxury and contemporary African design brands seeking to sell products to consumers outside of their home markets.” said Kolade Adeyemo, co-founder and President of OXOSI. “By helping these brands export, we can finally tap into this large global market opportunity to help commercialize their creative talent and share their unique stories.”
“The OXOSI team has a keen understanding of the African design industry combined with a distinct aesthetic and editorial perspective that creates a unique value proposition,” said Linda Oramasionwu, Partner at Kupanda Capital. “We look forward to partnering with Akin and his team to build upon the foundation they have already established.”
Founded in 2015 and based in New York City, OXOSI is the first company to provide a three-pronged approach to commerce for African brands: international e-commerce, content and community. OXOSI, a venture born from the passion shared by co-founders Akin Adebowale and Kolade Adeyemo (both of Nigerian descent), curates leading luxury and contemporary African design brands for commerce, and produces original content that creatively indexes and integrates influencers across various genres and sub-cultures within in a community. OXOSI is the pre-eminent lifestyle brand for Afromoderist and Africa enthusiasts.
Kupanda Capital is a leading investment and advisory firm established to incubate, capitalize, and scale pan-African companies. Kupanda Capital was founded in 2012 by Bobby Pittman, Queen Nworisara Quinn and Linda Oramasionwu. The team focuses on helping companies identify and penetrate African markets. Kupanda Capital’s investment activity is done in partnership with TPG Growth. Kupanda Holdings is a joint venture between TPG Growth and Kupanda Holdings. The investment in OXOSI is the vehicle’s first investment.
For further information, visit oxosi.com.
