Straand has secured AUD$4m in second round fundraising from Unilever Ventures and Harvey Norman Family Office to fuel its global ambitions.
The Australian scalp care brand will use the investment to drive forward its plans for further international expansion, including the execution of a deal it has with Sephora.
Straand is set to have its products stocked in more than 70 of the beauty retailer’s stores across Australia, the UK and South East Asia by early next year.
A new pipeline of products will also launch globally in 2024.
“We are excited for this next phase of Straand’s growth,” said Straand co-founder Sarah Hamilton.
“This will help create further global pathways, including back home in Australia.”
Unilever Ventures is a pre-existing investor in the prebiotic hair care start-up.
The beauty giant’s growth capital arm injected $2m into the business in February 2023 to help expand it into new markets.
This included soft-launching the brand in the US market with retail partners Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Amazon.
“Dandruff and broader scalp concerns are a significant and much maligned condition globally,” commented Rachel Harris, Partner at Unilever Ventures.
“We have been working with the Straand team now for more than 12 months and are excited at the continued prospect of growth.”
Straand was founded by entrepreneurs Hamilton, Meagan Pate, Jeremy Hunt, Tim Brown and Nick Morris in July 2022.
The microbiome-focused hair care range is formulated with patented prebiotic ingredient Defenscalp, which the brand said helps combat dry, itchy skin and dandruff.
This is investor Harvey Norman Family Office’s first foray into the consumer goods market.
Founder Gerry Harvey said his interest in Straand was “based on its progression within the category and to support their upcoming multi-market contracts.”
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