Innovative Black-Owned Bioengineered Braiding Hair Company Arrives at Sephora.
Ruka Hair becomes the first braiding hair brand to launch at Sephora in two decades, marking a historic milestone.
Black-owned beauty brand Ruka Hair is breaking new ground by becoming the first braiding hair brand to debut at Sephora in two decades.
Founded in 2020 by Tendai Moyo and Ugo Agbai, the London-based brand will debut online at Sephora on Aug. 4 before expanding to 10 stores across New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta on Aug. 14, according to Yahoo Finance.
The retailer will offer Ruka’s patent-pending Synths² collagen-based braiding hair extensions, complemented by a selection of styling products and hair perfumes. Designed as an alternative to traditional synthetic braiding hair, the brand’s innovative biotech fiber is chemical-free, biodegradable, and hypoallergenic, providing the performance of natural hair without plastics or carcinogenic materials. In a LinkedIn post, Moyo announced that Ruka is the first braiding hair brand to launch at Sephora in two decades and will be the retailer’s only hair extensions brand. She described the milestone as the company’s most significant achievement to date, emphasizing that expanding access to its bioengineered hair products has always been at the heart of Ruka’s mission.
Earlier this year, Ruka Hair secured $4.5 million in a new funding round, bringing its total investment to nearly $10 million. The round was co-led by Freedom Trail Capital and Henkel Ventures, with additional backing from Big Issue Invest, Backed VC, and several angel investors.
According to co-founder Tendai Moyo, the funding will accelerate the growth of Synths², the company’s collagen protein fiber braiding hair, while supporting the broader biotechnology platform behind the innovation. She emphasized that Ruka is more than a beauty brand, describing it as a science-, community-, and culture-driven company addressing the needs of a large global market.
Born in Zimbabwe, Moyo founded Ruka Hair in response to the lack of innovative, high-quality hair products designed specifically for Black women with textured hair. Since its launch, the company has distinguished itself by combining biotechnology with beauty, creating sustainable alternatives that address concerns surrounding the sourcing of human hair and the chemicals commonly used in traditional synthetic hair products.
