Unilever Ventures Reinvests In Straand To Increase The Scalp Care Brand’s Funding To Over $4M

Straand has raised roughly $2.6 million from the Harvey Family Office and Unilever Ventures to accelerate international growth.

The capital brings the Australian microbiome-centered scalp care brand’s fundraising total to $4.6 million. It previously raised $2 million from Unilever Ventures, the venture arm of Unilever that has an extensive portfolio of beauty and wellness investments, including Saie, The 7 Virtues, Trinny London, Womaness and Lemme. Straand marks the Harvey Family Office’s first beauty investment.

“We were really blown away and the caliber of investors that we have got in this round. I think there’s confidence in this space and the brand. A lot of what we’ve spent the initial money on is creating a brand that allows people to not have a taboo around scalp issues,” says Straand co-founder Sarah Hamilton. “It shows to me that there’s massive interest still in beauty, which I think is great, and massive interest in brands that are getting early-stage support from retail.”

In a statement, Rachel Harris, partner at Unilever ventures, says, “Dandruff and broader scalp concerns are a significant and much maligned condition globally. We have been working with the Straand team now for over 12 months and are excited at the continued prospect of growth.”

Also in a statement, Harvey Family Office founder Gerry Harvey, co-founder and executive chair of furniture and electrical goods retailer Harvey Norman, says, “My interest in Straand was based on their progression within their category and to support their upcoming multi-market contracts.”

Hamilton discloses that the brand’s sales have been doubling this year. In the United States specifically, month-over-month sales are up 130%. In 2024, Straand’s goal is to triple sales. Within five years, it aims to surpass 25 million in sales in Australian dollars or about $16 million at the current exchange rate, according to an article on the brand in The Australian Financial Review.

““We were really blown away and the caliber of investors that we have got in this round.”

Straand launched in July 2022 and has four wet products priced from $19 to $24: shampoo The Crown Cleanse, conditioner The Head Doctor, scalp serum The Crown Fix and The Miracle Worker Scrub. Additionally, it sells ancillary products like the $27.95 Woven Microfiber Hair Towel, $14.95 Exfoliating Scalp Brush and $10 XL Satin Scrunchie.

On the retail front, Straand has secured a deal with Sephora that will place it in more than 70 of the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned beauty specialty retailer’s stores across Australia, Southeast Asia and the United Kingdom, where it’s already entered Sephora’s two locations, by March of next year.

Straand recently expanded to the United States at the retailers Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Amazon. Free People is on deck. The brand is available at Adore Beauty in Australia and cross-border e-commerce in China as well. The Middle East is a promising future opportunity for it.

The majority of Straand’s sales are from direct-to-consumer distribution. It’s acquired customers with a mix of influencer marketing, press mentions, and advertising and organic content on Meta platforms and TikTok. Word of mouth has been picking up lately. By the middle to the end of 2024, Hamilton believes Straand’s business will be split evenly between DTC and retail distribution.

Straand’s bestsellers are The Crown Fix and The Crown Cleanse. Women aged 18 to 34 years old constitute the brand’s core audience. Its products feature what it calls Defenscalp, a rosebay extract it describes as being “designed to gently rebalance the scalp microbiome.” The brand is planning six product launches in 2024. So far, anti-dandruff products have been at the heart of its assortment. Going forward, Hamilton shares it will extend to three other pillars in the scalp care arena.

“Unless you have a healthy scalp, you can’t have healthy hair,” she says. “The segment has been a really strong part of the haircare segment, but what we are really trying to do is focus on the science of it.”

“Unless you have a healthy scalp, you can’t have healthy hair.”

Sales projections validate that scalp care is a strong part of the haircare segment. Coherent Market Insights projects it will advance at a compound annual growth rate of 7.1% to nearly $20.8 billion in global sales in 2030. The market research firm projects the haircare segment as a whole will advance at a CAGR of 5.3% to almost $152.3 billion in global sales by 2028. Especially after the pandemic hit, consumers began paying attention to their scalp and adopting rituals and ingredients familiar from their skincare habits for it.

“When you talk to people about your scalp aging faster than your face, people are just absolutely shocked,” says Hamilton. “Using a serum like you would on your face, I think once people get into that process, it is part of their routine. So, we see the segment continuing to grow.”

Straand’s founding team consists of five beauty and wellness veterans. Hamilton previously co-founded the skincare brand Sand & Sky and beauty subscription service Bellabox; Nick Morris was formerly GM at manufacturer Natural Beauty Care; Jeremy Hunt was formerly COO at distributor Health More; Tim Brown was formerly chief business officer at Health More; and Meagan Pate was formerly group business manager at News Corp. Worldwide, there are 11 people on Straand’s team, and it has arrangements with third-party logistics companies in three markets: U.S., Australia and the U.K.

Along with scalp care’s traction and Straand’s retail rollout, Hamilton says the experience of Straand’s co-founders, the brand’s interest in science and its positioning in masstige haircare were helpful in pinning down its latest funding. Straand set out to raise half the amount it did in its latest round, but, as its investors committed to a greater amount, Hamilton explains, “Because of the current environment, the view was OK, almost raise as much as you can and don’t raise again [for a while].”

Masstige skincare has been on a hot streak in the beauty industry, with brands such as Naturium, The Inkey List, TruSkin and Byoma at higher price tiers in mass retail and lower price tiers in prestige retail making gains. Straand is bullish on masstige haircare following a similar trajectory. Hamilton says, “We want people to trade up a little bit, and we don’t mind if they’re trading down. So, it feels like we’re in a good position.”