Amira Rasool’s Platform, The Folklore, Secures $3.4Million Seed Funding

Amira Rasool’s B2B marketplace platform, The Folklore, has achieved another remarkable milestone. 

The Folklore has secured $3.4 million in a seed funding round, bringing its total funding to $6.2 million. The funding will fuel further growth and expand the services offered to brands on the Folklore platform.

Benchstrength, a VC firm founded by ex-General Catalyst partners Kenneth Chenault Jr. and John Monagle, led the funding round. Existing investors Slauson & Co, Techstars, and Black Tech Nation Ventures participated.

“Benchstrength is thrilled to invest in The Folklore,” Benchstrength Managing Partner Kenneth Chenault Jr. said in a statement. “We believe the company is building a powerful movement that will help power and scale the next great brands. We are very excited to partner with Amira and her team.”

Meanwhile, Rasool said, “The key to The Folklore’s consistent user and revenue growth is continuing to build things that make sense for the customers we are targeting. We are not trying to expand too much and just build something we think they might like; we are going to talk to the brands and see what the majority need and that’s what we’re going to focus on.”

What’s The Purpose of The Folklore’s New Funding

The funding enables The Folklore to new offerings: The Folklore Source. The Folklore Capital, The Folklore Hub, and a lineup of in-person and virtual education and community-driven events.

In addition to managing the wholesale business, brands can now source freelancers and manufacturers through the new talent marketplace, The Folklore Source

The Folklore Capital, offered by its partners, allows brands to receive loans of up to $1 million as working capital. Rasool said its pilot showed that brands went for loans between $10,000 and $30,000.

“Access to capital is probably one of the biggest things that prevents small businesses from scaling. For diverse brands in particular, there are a lot of economic hurdles that these groups face, which makes it even harder for them to access capital. Since a large makeup of our community is diverse, we wanted to make sure that they had more resources that they could use to access capital,” she noted.

“This service is particularly helpful for people who are taking on big wholesale orders from our retailers. A lot of retailers’ payment terms are net 30 or net 60 (the retailer has 30 or 60 days to settle), so it is necessary for those brands to be able to have money upfront. That’s why purchase order financing was something that we prioritized because we are a company that is promoting wholesale growth. Providing access to working capital was also important so that brands could have money to hire people who can manage production, wholesale, social and more,” Rasool elaborated.

The Folklore Hub is a resource content library featuring business guides, videos, and downloadable templates.

More About The Folklore

Founded in 2018, The Folklore assists fashion brands from emerging markets like Africa, Asia, and The Caribbean tap into the international market. The startup introduced The Folklore Connect in 2022, a B2B marketplace and wholesale management software for brands to sell to partner global retailers like Nordstrom after it shifted from sourcing and selling directly to consumers.

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What started as a mission to open the global market for fashion brands has grown into a platform that serves a diverse range of consumer companies, including those in beauty, health, and wellness. It has also enabled global retailers to source inventory from a diverse pool of creators.

Starting today, The Folklore will enable brands globally to sign up for a $39/month membership and receive instant access to the platform and community resources. With membership, brands have access to The Folklore Connect, the wholesale management software and B2B marketplace that launched publicly in 2023 and has since driven millions in wholesale revenue for its 400+ users.

Be on the lookout because this year, The Folklore plans to host in-person events in ten cities: Atlanta, Abidjan, Accra, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lagos, London, Los Angeles, Nairobi, and New York.