Silverbacks and ImpactHER boost African fashion brands' global presence

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This follows the investors’ recent participation at Afreximbank’s Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) platform. Both brands represent Africa’s growing influence in global fashion by blending cultural heritage with scalable, foreign-currency-earning business models.

Co-founded by Zimbabwean-born Pam Samasuwo-Nyawiri and Simba Nyawiri, Vanhu Vamwe is a sustainable luxury brand merging traditional craftsmanship with bold storytelling.

The company engages over 150 artisans and currently retails on 48 stockists across the Africa, US, UK, and Asia: on platforms like ْْْْْْْْْْNet-A-Porter, Nordstorm, Neiman Marcus, Selfridges with purchase orders from major fashion houses such as Etoile Group and Vakko.

Operating 100% in euros and dollars, Vanhu Vamwe is profitable and rapidly growing, showcasing how African heritage can anchor modern luxury markets.

“Our vision has always been to honour African heritage through sustainable, luxury craftsmanship that resonates globally. Partnering with Silverbacks and ImpactHER thanks to CANEX elevates our mission, opening doors to new markets while staying true to our story and values,” said Dr. Pam.

Founded by Thulani Ngazimbi, The Rad Black Kids channels Zimbabwean street culture into lifestyle fashion, partnering with global retailers including Amazon subsidiary BOP LLC. Their products have been retailed in Nordstrom, Macy’s, PACSUN, and Gotham.

Earning in US dollars and established as a profitable business, The Rad Black Kids exemplify how diaspora-rooted stories can scale into international streetwear powerhouse brands.

“The Rad Black Kids expanded its authentic roots, using Zimbabwean narratives into globally relevant streetwear. This investment from Silverbacks and ImpactHER enables us to amplify our voice on the world stage, proving that African creativity and diaspora stories can drive powerful, profitable fashion brands,” Thulani commented.

“These brands embody the ingenuity and global excellence of African fashion; we are committed to turning Africa’s creative brilliance into global business power, while ensuring women entrepreneurs are part of the charge in building export-ready, foreign-currency-earning brands,” Efe Ukala, president and founder, ImpactHER, commented.

These mark Silverbacks' second and third investments in the fashion sector, building on a prior investment in Armando Cabral.

Silverbacks Holdings continues to focus on globally competitive African companies that prioritise scalable growth, as demonstrated in recent investments. Silverbacks’ approach extends beyond capital deployment to improving network optimization within underserved industries, and amplifying dominant brands beyond the African continent.

Over the past few months, Silverbacks has executed a partial exit program, with notable successes in Nigeria (10.7x MOIC, 81.5% IRR) and Egypt (9.7x MOIC, 339% IRR), demonstrating strong returns from African investments. We announced partial exits from OmniRetail and Lemfi, welcomed Sanford R. Climan to our advisory board, and deployed capital into the African Warriors Fighting Championship (AWFC), where we became a significant minority shareholder and board member.

This followed an investment in South African sports-tech company NERGii. Other key investments include Moove (mobility fintech backed by Uber), Wave (mobile money and remittance fintech backed by Stripe and Sam Altman), Flutterwave (payment processing and remittance fintech backed by Mastercard and Visa), Cape Town Tigers (2024 BAL/NBA Africa semi-finalists), and Forever7 Entertainment (delivering top rated Netflix movie content).

Founded in 2019, Silverbacks applies a data-driven portfolio construction model targeting 3x to 5x investment returns and focusing on export-oriented, tech-enabled businesses expanding from Africa to the rest of the world.