Cassandra Sonma Ukoabi secures £50,000 for Tolicious wellness brand

Cassandra Sonma Ukoabi, a 35‑year‑old former nurse, became the first Black female founder to receive Spark Funding of £50,000 through the North East Accelerator Programme, backed by Mercia Ventures. The investment will be used to broaden the product range of her nurse‑led wellness brand Tolicious – which sells supplements, detox items, skincare and haircare – and to expand its team as the company aims to scale nationally from its North East headquarters.

Ukoabi founded Tolicious after a decade of nursing work in the Caribbean and the UK, bootstrapping the business to six‑figure revenue in its first year while still working NHS shifts. The brand has been named Best Female‑Led Wellness Brand UK 2025. In addition to Tolicious, she runs Blueprint Academy, a mentorship programme for women entrepreneurs, and is the author of *The Tolicious Way* and creator of the Healing Chat podcast.