Nigerian-American entrepreneur Olamide Olowe is stepping down as chief executive of skincare company Topicals, with former Fenty Beauty general manager Sukiana Chancy taking over the role as the brand enters its next phase of growth.
Olowe, who founded Topicals in 2020, will remain involved in the company’s day-to-day operations. The leadership change comes as the skincare brand reaches a new level of scale and prepares to expand further into international markets.
For Olowe, bringing in new leadership is about giving Topicals the expertise it needs for its next stage.
“I wanted to partner with someone who has worked their way up through marketing, built a global brand, and managed a profit-and-loss sheet much larger than ours,” she told The Business of Beauty.
Read: ChipMango Raises $1.9 Million to Expand Africa’s Chip Talent
How Olamide Olowe Built Topicals
Olowe created Topicals around a gap she identified in the beauty industry: the limited availability of skincare products specifically developed with deeper skin tones in mind.
The brand focuses on skin concerns including hyper pigmentation, acne and eczema, with products such as its Faded Brightening and Clearing Eye Masks and Faded Dark Spot Peel Pads.
In less than six years, Topicals has grown from a young startup into the fastest-growing skincare brand at Sephora, according to Essence.
The company has also attracted substantial investor interest. Olowe has raised more than $15 million in venture capital, with investors including basketball player Angel Reese and Nigerian musician Rema.
Her progress has made her one of the notable young entrepreneurs in the beauty industry. In 2022, Olowe became the youngest Black woman to raise more than $2 million in venture funding after Topicals secured a $10 million financing round.
The company has continued to grow. Olowe recently said Topicals has recorded twelvefold revenue growth over five years and raised more than $22 million in total funding.
Read: Fope Adelowo Is Helping Decide Which African Tech Ideas Get to Scale
A New Phase for Topicals
Chancy joins Topicals with experience from one of the world’s most recognisable beauty brands. Before her appointment, she served as general manager of Fenty Beauty’s skin, hair and fragrance divisions.
Her experience in marketing, brand building and managing major beauty categories will now be brought to Topicals as the company looks to scale further.
The brand has its sights on expansion across Africa, the Middle East and Europe, with plans to pursue launches in Sephora’s Middle Eastern and European locations.
For Chancy, the appointment marks a significant new chapter after her time at Fenty Beauty. She has expressed excitement about joining the Topicals team and working alongside Olowe to build on what the founder has created.
The leadership transition also highlights an important part of building a company: knowing when growth requires a different kind of expertise.
Olowe is not walking away from Topicals. Instead, she is making room for an experienced executive to lead the business through a period of international expansion while she remains involved in its operations.
From identifying an underserved customer base to building a globally recognised skincare brand, Olowe has taken Topicals a long way since 2020. With Chancy now leading the company, its next challenge will be turning that foundation into an even larger global beauty business.
At RefinedNG, we tell the stories of African founders, businesses and leaders building brands that cross borders and create new possibilities. Follow RefinedNG for more stories on the people shaping Africa’s future.