Kimba Williams and Barbara McLaren had personal reasons for launching Kushae, an all-natural line of feminine wellness products.
The concept for the West Palm Beach-based startup began in 2016, not long after Williams stepped away from a career in the pharmaceutical industry to begin making all-natural alternatives for basic items such as baby food and household cleaners.
"I spent year after year at companies that were focused on finding solutions for people who were already sick," she said. "But I wanted to help people be more proactive about their health."
That mission came into focus when Williams met McLaren, a board-certified obstectrician-gynocologist. McLaren, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 38, was also searching for nontoxic alternatives to common household and health products after she discovered toxins in her bloodwork linked to some of those every day items.
"All of her medical training hadn't prepared her for a battle with something that, maybe, could have been preventable," Williams said.
Kushae, founded by the pair in 2018, offers a suite of all-natural feminine health products, like body washes and deodorants. Although several feminine wellness brands exist, Williams said most of those ventures cater to menstruation or menopause. Plus, many commercially available products for women contain chemical ingredients like dioxins and fragrances that have been linked to cancer and endocrine disruptions.
In contrast, Kushae's products are made from plant-based materials free from synthetic ingredients. All of the company's formulations are developed in collaboration with physicians like McLaren and produced in the U.S.
This month, Kushae closed a $1.25 million seed round led Atlanta-based Fearless Fund, a venture capital firm that invests in businesses led by women of color. Williams and McLaren are now among the first 100 Black female founders to raise more than $1 million in seed funding.
"It was one of the hardest things ever done in my life." said Williams, who led the raise. "The statistics don't lie: Less than 1% of Black women actually receive money from venture capitalists."
Pitching as a Black woman was hard enough, but pitching a feminine wellness business was another challenge in the male-dominated world of venture capital. That's why Williams was intentional about who she connected with, focusing on firms that had a history of investing in Black- and women-led businesses.
"I couldn’t waste time with funders who didn’t understand what we were doing," Williams said.
Williams said Kushae "has barely touched the tip of the iceberg" when it comes to marketing, its main priority following the capital raise. The startup, which has eight employees, also aims to use its new seed funding to grow its team.
Kushae's suite of feminine wellness products are currently available on the company's website, Amazon.com and at 33 Whole Foods locations across Florida.
"Right now, we're trying to let women know [Kushae] is here," Williams said. "We want to educate them and help them become informed consumers."
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