Editor’s note: African-Startups is a sister publication of EU-Startups, bringing trusted coverage of startups, venture capital, and innovation across Africa.
Love Kinks, a South African startup selling premium hair care products to a niche market, it built on Instagram, has raised an undisclosed funding round. The funding includes the option to increase that amount over the next 12 months in line with its business needs. The funding comes on the heels of a retail partnership with pharmacy and beauty chain Clicks across five African countries.
Founded by Sinovuyo Mondliwa in 2016, Love Kinks was built from the ground up to serve a market that had historically been underserved by mainstream retail. In a LinkedIn post, Mondliwa noted that the newly secured funding has already been deployed. The funding is being used to stock inventory and strengthen the brand’s capacity to scale.
Love Kinks has partnered with logistics firm Parcelninja to streamline order fulfilment, freeing up the team to focus on growth and product development. The brand has also brought on Cin7, a cloud-based inventory and production management platform, to improve operational efficiency across its supply chain.
Sinovuyo Mondliwa said, “As a founder and CEO, part of my role has been to find partners who truly understand the vision. Four years later, persistence paid off with a contract that once felt uncertain but has now translated into money in the bank.”
The story of Love Kinks is not one restricted to its funding announcement but one filled with false promises and resilience to keep building. In her LinkedIn post, Mondliwa explained how multiple promises and approvals failed to translate into support. “This moment is a reminder that timing, alignment, and resilience matter just as much as the idea itself,” she explains.
While the origin story is one of bootstrapped determination, the startup landed one of its significant commercial milestones last year. In November 2024, the brand signed a contract with Clicks, and after a year of preparation, officially launched across 87 Clicks stores on 15 October 2025. These stores, across South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini, and Botswana, brought commercial viability to the brand and helped it expand outside South Africa.
On its website, Love Kinks claims the company recorded more than $60,000 (R1 million) in sales in its first quarter on Clicks shelves, followed by a comparable figure in the second quarter. With a proven retail footprint and partnership across Southern Africa and funding in place to address stock challenges, Love Kinks can move out of its bootstrapped startup shell and scale into a multi-market consumer hair care brand.
“This is just the beginning and a powerful reminder that staying committed to your vision, even when the path feels uncertain, eventually leads somewhere meaningful,” adds Mondliwa.
