Nutrafol Seeks to Expand With Investment From Unilever Ventures

Nutrafol, a nutraceutical supplement for hair growth for men and women, is prepped for growth of its own. The company just closed its series A financing round with Unilever Ventures, the venture capital and private equity arm of Unilever, acting as the lead investor. Further terms of the deal were not disclosed.The founders of Nutrafol said they will use the funds to double the size of its staff and pump up the digital advertising budgets to accelerate the expansion of the brand. “Additionally, this investment will enable us to invest heavily in some very exciting digitally disruptive technologies scheduled to launch in the third quarter,” said Nutrafol’s president Roland Peralta.Already, Nutrafol has made significant investments in ongoing clinical research. “These additional funds will be used to conduct our third human clinical study,” added Giorgos Tsetis, Nutrafol’s chief executive officer. The research is in tandem with the dermatology department at the University of Miami, run by Dr. Antonella Tosti.Nutrafol’s monthly sales are up 100 percent since last October, according to the founders, with monthly increases averaging 25 percent or more month over month. The financing is expected to allow the brand to increase its advertising to scale the business.“Hair loss is a global issue affecting millions of men and women every day. The founding team at Nutrafol has done a phenomenal job disrupting the status quo of the hair loss industry by shifting the paradigm in how western medicine talks about hair loss,” said Stephen Willson, investment director of Unilever Ventures. “Consumers are demanding natural solutions that work — the high trajectory growth of the brand is indicative that Nutrafol is on the frontier of that.” The initial introduction of Nutrafol to Unilever Ventures was made from investment platform CircleUp. Unilever Ventures’ existing investments in the beauty space include Sachajuan Haircare, Iluminage Beauty, REN Skin Care and Blow Ltd.Frustrated by poor results and undesirable side effects from a leading pharmaceutical drug, Nutrafol’s cofounders challenged the science behind conventional hair loss solutions. In 2015, they teamed with hair loss experts in the field of dermatology and integrative health care to develop a nutraceutical hair growth supplement composed of clinically tested ingredients. With continued investment in research and clinical studies, Nutrafol is hammering out a game plan to take the lead in the fragmented multibillion-dollar global hair loss industry. It is estimated at least 40 million men and another 40 million women experience some hair loss — but that total could be much higher since some don’t disclose they are follicle challenged. Nutrafol’s founders seek to shake up conventional thinking and open up direct lines of communication, even to Millennials, about hair loss.“Up until now, physicians have had very few, if any, healthy options to offer patients concerned with poor hair health,” Peralta said. “Our researchers created a solution that fills the void by providing the medical community a healthy and effective option, without side effects, for their patients in the treatment of poor hair health.”Peralta and Tsetis leveraged discoveries in hair research and biotechnology to reverse engineer a formula to target some of the underlying causes of hair loss.“We now know poor hair health is due to an accumulation of causes, including stress, inflammation and hormonal imbalances. We live in a time when these causes, particularly stress, are on the rise in modern society, which explains why hair loss is a global epidemic. It’s a multibillion dollar category with a double-digit compounded annual growth rate projected in the coming years, making this a very lucrative opportunity for our investors,” Tsetis said.Nutrafol retails for $88 for a one-month supply. It is recommended Nutrafol be taken for at least three months.