Seen, the hair care ‘skinicicaiton’ brand developed by a Harvard-trained dermatologist, has raised US$9m.
The Series A round included existing and new investors in the New York, US, brand, which Dr Iris Rubin launched in 2019 after four years of research.
Participants included Mitch Rales, co-founder of life sciences company Danaher Corporation, and Somerville SPV, led by investor Feroz Dewan.
Also involved were Sator Grove Holdings, a permanent capital investor, and George Mrkonic, a Board Director of retailer Ulta Beauty.
The round built on early funding support from Harvard dermatologists and scientists, including Dr Rox Anderson at Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital.
“This marks another transformative milestone for Seen,” said Rubin.
“A majority of adults in the US have self-described sensitive skin and over 100 million people in the US suffer from acne, eczema, dry scalp and hair shedding, which can be exacerbated by irritating, allergenic and/or pore-clogging ingredients in hair products.
“Our mission is to help people feel confident being seen by providing them salon-quality hair formulations clinically proven to also be skin friendly.”
Seen co-founder Greg Maged added: “Our Series A funding will allow us to focus on innovation, further scale our professional sampling to 10,000 dermatology practices in 2025 and expand our retail footprint.
“We have had 100% compounded annual growth since our launch and consistently exceed Ulta’s sales projections for the brand.”
Investor Mrkonic, who currently serves on the Board of Ulta Beauty, said: “I am delighted to become an investor in Seen and believe they are setting a new standard for performance hair care.
“Seen is applying skin science to hair care, which is exactly the kind of category-defining innovation that gets Ulta excited.”
