Gaining a foothold in today’s fashion market is difficult for any designer. It’s even more difficult for designers in Africa as there haven’t been any established paths to build significant exposure for African luxury and emerging brands. The Folklore is on a mission to change that with its B2B whole e-commerce marketplace that connects African designer fashion brands with global retailers. The company works closely with the designers to give them the digital tools needed to differentiate and prepare their brands for e-commerce and provides them with enhanced visibility through its content arm – The Folklore Edit. The wholesale platform is free for retailers to use and brands pay either a straight commission or a combination of commission and a flat fee. Folklore takes an affiliate commission on any sales generated by the content side or through direct-to-consumer sales. Currently, the platform features just under 40 brands for women and 20 brands for men’s apparel.
AlleyWatch caught up with The Folklore Founder and CEO Amira Rasool to learn more about the inspiration for the business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
The Folklore Group raised $1.7M in a pre-seed funding round led by Slauson & Co. with participation from Fearless Fund, WNBA star Nneka Ogwumike, Backbone Angels, Fab Co-Creation Studio Ventures, Untapped Capital, and a number of family offices and angel investors.
Tell us about the product or service that The Folklore offers.
The Folklore Group is a conglomerate of B2B, consumer, and media products that enable the global ecosystem to seamlessly discover, connect with, and shop African and diasporic designer brands. Our primary product, The Folklore Connect, is a wholesale e-commerce platform that empowers global retailers to discover and shop African and diasporic designer fashion and lifestyle brands.
What inspired the start of The Folklore?
Our vision is to see African brands in the hands of customers around the world. This means we have to create solutions that have a positive impact on the way brands, retailers and consumers engage in conscious commerce. When I first came across many of the brands we now partner with, they weren’t sold by retailers outside of their country and many brands did not have direct-to-consumer platforms. I recognized that this was a result of retailers and consumers not knowing these fabulous brands existed, but also customers not having easy access to purchase from these brands even when they did discover them. With the amount of technology out in the world now, I knew there was no reason why these brands had to continue to be marginalized and overlooked when they were creating the type of innovative, sustainable, and appealing products people like me have been looking for and want to buy.
How is The Folklore different?
We have developed supply chain systems that expand entrepreneurship, jobs, manufacturing and the overall African and diasporic economy. The Folklore Connect is the first B2B wholesale platform that will enable designer brands from Africa and the diaspora to connect directly with global retailers through one central platform and streamline their international operations. The integrations and features we are adding to our product solve the specific problems that brands in these regions or communities have that are unique to them. We are also introducing two new innovation platforms, including The Folklore Marketplace, a consumer shopping aggregator that will replace the company’s original direct-to-consumer platform, and The Folklore Edit, an online media platform that will feature industry analysis, interviews and news about the African and diasporic design industry.
What market does The Folklore target and how big is it?
In recent years, wholesale e-commerce revenue exceeded $122 Billion. In the next few years, global B2B e-commerce revenues are expected to grow significantly and account for 27% of the total wholesale market. The total Sub-Saharan African apparel textile and footwear market is $31B, based on wholesale accounting for 27% in the next few years, the Sub-Saharan wholesale e-commerce opportunity could be a $6B industry. There is currently no wholesale e-commerce platform catering to Africa in this way, so we will take up a large percentage of that market opportunity. This also does not account for the thousands of Black-owned brands outside of Africa that our products also cater to.
What’s your business model?
The Folklore Connect’s business model is both a two-sided marketplace and SaaS model. Brands either pay a commission of all the wholesale transactions that retailers make on the platform or they pay a combination of commission and a flat-rate fee. Those that pay a flat rate fee get to unlock more features on the platform that helps them better manage their wholesale business and they’ll pay a lower commission. Retailers don’t pay anything to use the platform. The Folklore Marketplace and The Folklore Edit is an affiliate model, we drive customers to our partners’ websites through product placement and receive a commission when a customer we directed to their website makes a purchase.
What are your post-COVID office plans?
The Folklore Group is truly a global company. We have team members spanning three continents and four countries – so for our team, it is all about working virtually across multiple time zones. We have a small office in Manhattan (our headquarters) inside of a coworking space for people to work out of when they want to get out of the house, and we’ll probably have a few more of those in key cities in Africa, Europe, and the U.S. over the next few years, but I don’t ever see us having large offices and requiring people to work from them.
What was the funding process like?
The funding process wasn’t actually that bad this time around. Coming out of Techstars I had developed a really good network, had a really good strategy, and we built great traction leading up to the raise. Ultimately, it was all about staying organized and executing according to plan. We opened the round the day we said we would and closed the day we said we would. It was not like that when I tried to unsuccessfully raise in the past. I didn’t really know what I was doing before and didn’t have the network and knowledge I needed to be successful. This time out, I was a lot more confident in my abilities, had great materials, and because of the traction and strength of our team, investors were excited about the opportunity.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
The biggest challenge I faced was getting investors to understand the market with the little data and information that is available out there about it. Not many people are familiar with this market and so trying to convince them how big it is without real numbers was a challenge.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
At this stage in the company, I’m told many investors bet on the founder. I believe our investors recognized how dedicated and passionate I was about the market and the mission, and appreciated that I had a big vision to expand our product offering and consume as much of this huge multi-billion dollar African fashion and lifestyle market as possible. They also understood that I was the best person to run a company like this because I have amazing relationships with our brands, I have a detailed understanding about the market, and I have the grit to see us through whatever obstacles and win at all cost.
At this stage in the company, I’m told many investors bet on the founder. I believe our investors recognized how dedicated and passionate I was about the market and the mission, and appreciated that I had a big vision to expand our product offering and consume as much of this huge multi-billion dollar African fashion and lifestyle market as possible. They also understood that I was the best person to run a company like this because I have amazing relationships with our brands, I have a detailed understanding about the market, and I have the grit to see us through whatever obstacles and win at all cost.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
In the next six months, we will launch version one of The Folklore Connect that will be open to the wider public to use ahead of the September fashion week shows. We also plan to host an event in New York that brings the online buying process in person so brands and retailers can also see how useful Connect is for in-person wholesale buying appointments too.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Do not limit yourself to New York if you’re planning to raise capital. Not a single one of our investors came from New York. I noticed certain cities had clusters of investors that just focused on specific types of businesses so I looked at those cities the most. If you’re bootstrapping your company and don’t have plans to get a fresh injection of capital in the bank anytime soon, I suggest you move back home or to a cheap city if you are not in the position to pay yourself or if you don’t have plenty of savings or family help to live off of. That’s what I did, and it took a lot of pressure and stress off of me and I found myself making better decisions because I was not literally starving and worrying about how to pay rent.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
Before the end of the year, The Folklore will have hundreds of brands selling their products to retailers using The Folklore Connect. We will be seeing the first round of products ordered through The Folklore Connect hitting shelves, and you’ll soon be able to walk into one of your favorite boutiques or department stores and see one of our brand’s products in there. Our goal is to continue to grow the amount of brands and retailers connecting on the platform and engaging in successful transactions.
What’s your favorite outdoor dining restaurant in NYC?
My favorite outdoor dining restaurant is Peaches HotHouse in Brooklyn. I love shrimp and grits.
