Fyyne is a place where you can find beauty services, and they also provide tools to help beauty businesses.
A company called Fyyne, based in Toronto, which helps beauty professionals offer their services and manage their businesses, has been bought by a Nigerian e-commerce company called Bumpa.
Both companies didn’t share how much money was involved in the deal, which was completed this summer. About a year and a half after Fyyne started its beauty tech platform and got some initial funding, Bumpa has now acquired it. Bumpa aims to use this acquisition to support its growth into new markets.
Bumpa is creating an online store platform similar to Shopify, but specifically designed to help small businesses in Africa. They want to make it easy for business owners to start, run, and expand their companies using their mobile phones. Fyyne has also introduced a new version of its app, which is now powered by Bumpa, to go along with this development.
Fyyne’s team already had employees from Nigeria working in both Toronto and Lagos, which are the places where Bumpa, the company, is based.
“Bumpa is very aligned with our mission at Fyyne and they have been doing similar work to great success in the Nigerian market,” this was information shared by Fyyne co-founder and outgoing CEO Jeffrey Fasegha, adding that it “made a lot of sense” for Fyyne and Bumpa to join forces. Fasegha shared that Fyyne is considering stepping into the African market. Bumpa, having significant knowledge and experience in Africa, seems like a good fit for this strategy. Simultaneously, Bumpa has been preparing to launch its products in the Western market.
Jeffrey Fasegha
Photo credits: LinkedIn
In the later part of 2020, Fasegha, together with his former classmates Olugbenga Olubanjo and Al-Ameen Ogundiran from the University of Toronto, initiated the establishment of Fyyne. Their primary objective was to simplify the process for individuals with Black hair to acquire the haircare products they need. Additionally, they aimed to develop tools that could assist Black barbers and hairstylists in efficiently managing their businesses. Fyyne managed to secure a total of $300,000 in funding from supporters such as BKR Capital, Techstars, Google for Startups, and Jon Oringer, the founder of Shutterstock.
Photo credits: LinkedIn
Photo credit: crunchbase
As mentioned by Fasegha before to BetaKit, Fyyne aimed to bring structure to an industry that has traditionally been quite casual. In January 2022, Fyyne introduced a mobile app that lets users find, book, and pay for hairstyling services provided by Black hairstylists. The app also empowers independent Black hairstylists and barbers by helping them showcase and monetize their skills.
Fyyne, originally focused on a specific set of beauty services, later broadened its offerings to include a wider variety. The company also extended its reach beyond its initial location and expanded its services to the United States and the United Kingdom.
What’s interesting is that Fyyne’s team was made up mostly of people with Nigerian roots. Half of them worked in Toronto, while the other half were based in Lagos, where the company’s main office, Bumpa, is located.
According to Fasegha, Bumpa has taken over Fyyne’s technology, customers, and some of its team members. Moving forward, Fyyne will continue to run on its own, separate from Bumpa. Olubanjo and Ogundiran have left Fyyne as part of the agreement, and Fasegha has shifted to an advisory role. He plans to stay connected with the business in this capacity for the foreseeable future. Bumpa plans to reveal the next CEO of Fyyne soon.
Founded in 2021 by CEO Kelvin Umechukwu and CTO Adetunji Opayele, Bumpa helps merchants set up and run e-commerce stores using their smartphones. The startup’s platform enables clients to manage inventory, accept payments, handle bookkeeping, fulfill orders, track sales, request dispatch delivery, and engage with customers. Last year, Bumpa raised $4 million in seed funding to support its growth.
Fasegha mentioned that Fyyne successfully addressed technical challenges related to instant payments and specific issues in the industry. Bumpa has been able to benefit from these solutions and learn from them.
Fasegha explained that Bumpa initially focused on the informal economy, and now, they’ve applied similar principles in the Western context. He expressed excitement about the exchange of innovative ideas between Nigeria and the world, emphasizing how lessons from the West can be adapted and implemented in Nigeria.
