Nigeria continues to stand out as a leading hub for female entrepreneurship, with women playing a significant role in building businesses across key sectors, particularly within the beauty industry which is driven by rising consumer demand, the expansion of e-commerce, and increasing global recognition of African beauty brands.

This was clearly showcased at the second edition of the Beauty Hut Africa Women’s Grant Initiative, where Busha, a digital finance platform empowered three female-led beauty businesses with a total of six million Naira in equity-free funding to support their growth and expansion.

Globally, the beauty and personal care market is projected to exceed $700 billion in the coming years, highlighting the scale of opportunity available to entrepreneurs in the space. However, while it is clear that the Nigeria beauty sector has experienced strong growth, access to funding remains a major barrier for many female founders, limiting their ability to scale operations and compete effectively.

Thus, initiatives like the Beauty Hut Africa Women’s Grant sponsored by Busha help bridge this gap by providing not only capital, but also visibility and access to industry networks.

Busha’s support for the event, which held recently at the Ecobank Pan-African Centre in Lagos, bringing together five promising female beauty entrepreneurs who presented their businesses before a panel of industry experts in a live pitch, was delivered under the Empowerment Pillar of its Social Impact Initiative, the company’s corporate social responsibility arm, focused on driving impact through education and empowerment.

Following the pitch session, three standout founders were selected and awarded grants to support the next phase of their business growth. Inveo Labs emerged as the first-place winner, followed by Tulivu Fragrance in second place and SavedSkin Cosmeceuticals in third place.

The judging panel included Founder of Beauty Hut Africa, Subuola Oyeleye; Head of West Africa at Uncover, Bobe Badaki; Product Marketing Manager at Busha Business, Omolara Dada and Founder of The Nail Boutique, Abimbola Akerele.

Remarking, Subuola Oyeleye said: “This grant initiative was created to bridge a real gap for women in the beauty industry, access to funding, visibility, and the right support systems to grow. The level of innovation and resilience we have seen from these founders is incredibly inspiring, and we are proud to have partnered with Busha to help bring their vision to life. This is just the beginning of what we believe will be a new wave of scalable, women-led beauty businesses in Africa.”

First-place winner and founder of Inveo Labs Magdalene Ekanem, said: “Winning this grant is a milestone for Inveo Labs. Beyond the funding, this platform has given us valuable visibility and affirms the relevance of our work. This support will be directed toward advancing our R&D, expanding our testing infrastructure, strengthening claim substantiation, and further expanding our already existing foundation for high-performance product development.”

For Busha, supporting the grant goes beyond providing financial infrastructure through Busha Business; it is also about enabling access to capital for high-potential businesses. It reflects a broader commitment to supporting entrepreneurship and enabling inclusive economic growth by supporting ambitious founders and contributing to the development of resilient business ecosystems across Africa.