The people
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Working at SAMARA
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About
SAMARA began because Visram could not find a bag that was cruelty-free and plain at the same time. She put ten bags on a Shopify store and they sold out, and the label grew from there into a full range — bags, small accessories and clothing — built on materials that replace animal leather: apple leather made from the skins left over by the juicing industry, castor seed, bamboo, recycled ocean plastics and organic cotton. The company works with factories in Italy, China, Taiwan, India and Kenya, and describes its own team as small, tight-knit and all-female. The name is her sister's; the two of them started it a few months after their mother died, and run it together. Visram's earlier venture was Soular, the solar-panel school backpack she built for children in coastal Kenya, which she presented at TechTO in December 2016.
Backers
No funding round has been announced and the company names no investors on its own site. It describes starting on $500 of its founder's money.
Quick answers
What does SAMARA make?
Leather-free bags and accessories — totes, backpacks, laptop sleeves and small goods — using apple leather made from juicing waste, castor seed, bamboo, recycled ocean plastics and organic cotton.
Who founded it and when?
Salima Visram, in December 2017, with $500 and a run of ten bags that sold out. She named it for her younger sister Samara, who co-founded and runs it with her; they started it a few months after their mother died.
What was Soular?
Visram's earlier venture — a school backpack with a solar panel that charged a lamp while children in coastal Kenya walked to and from class, so homework did not need kerosene. She presented it at TechTO in December 2016.
Who from SAMARA is in this directory?
Salima Visram, its founder and chief executive, who took the TechTO stage in December 2016 for Soular.