Rema is stepping beyond the music studio and into the beauty industry. The Afrobeats star has joined WNBA athlete Angel Reese as an investor in Topicals, the skincare brand founded in 2020 by Nigerian-American entrepreneur Olamide Olowe. The investment, first reported by Business of Fashion, is part of a new funding round that intentionally leans on cultural figures rather than traditional institutional backers.
Topicals has raised more than $22.6 million to date and built a loyal following around products like its $22 under-eye masks and the $38 Faded Serum, which targets dark spots and hyperpigmentation. The brand closed 2024 as one of Sephora's fastest-growing skincare lines, but Olowe is candid about the pressures facing brands like hers. In an open letter, she wrote that the current climate is "rewarding scale over originality, infrastructure over insight, and capital density over cultural resonance."
Her response to that pressure is to surround the brand with people who already live inside the culture it speaks to. "When you think of Topicals, you think of our marketing, storytelling and products, and you think a lot about culture," Olowe said. "These are people who control culture." She also spoke directly to the funding gap hitting Black-owned businesses: "Investors are pulling back their belief in Black-owned businesses. We are really proud that other people who have capital in the culture want this kind of business to grow."
For Rema, the partnership goes beyond a cheque. He will also serve as a creative partner, advising on how the brand connects with younger consumers and men specifically, as Topicals looks to broaden its audience heading into 2026. Whether this model of community-rooted investment becomes a blueprint for other culture-led brands is the question worth watching.
Originally published by Bella Naija Beauty.