Natural US skin care brand Oak Essentials is the latest name to receive funding from Unilever Ventures.
The consumer giant’s venture and growth capital arm was joined by Silas Capital in a first round investment.
California-based Oak Essentials was founded by Jenni Kayne, best known for her eponymous fashion, lifestyle and home collections brand, three years ago.
The funding is expected to fuel the brand’s expansion based on enhanced product development, increased marketing efforts and broader distribution.
Oak Essentials currently offers 26 skus across skin care and body care, and has sold more than half a million products since launch.
In 2024, the brand evolved from being DTC only to being stocked at ShopBop and Nordstrom, with more retail relationships said to be in the pipeline.
"We could not be more thrilled to announce our partnership with Silas Capital and Unilever Ventures,” said Lauren Harris, CEO of Oak Essentials.
“Their investment is a powerful endorsement of our vision to offer spa-like and effective skin care rituals for sophisticated consumers to experience in their own homes.
“Having spent the last three years building our DTC business, we are incredibly proud of how far we have come but are eagerly looking ahead to this next phase.”
Kayne added: “I am thrilled for Oak Essentials to collaborate with these respected industry leaders as we push the boundaries of what ‘clean’, prestige beauty can be.”
“The brand delivers for consumers who are increasingly embracing the holistic wellness benefits of beauty products with an appreciation for self-care and beauty routines,” commented Anna Ohlsson-Baskerville, Partner at Unilever Ventures.
Meanwhile Brian Thorne, Partner at Silas Capital, added that the companies would support “Oak’s impressive e-commerce momentum, as well as its quickly scaling wholesale channel”.
The brand this year launched The Jenni Kayne Farmhouse and Oak Essentials Wellness Club in Tivoli, New York.
An experiential lifestyle and wellness retreat, the club was designed to introduce the brand to the US east coast.
The Oak Essentials deal follows Unilever Ventures’ 2024 investments in Indu, the British teenage beauty specialist; Indonesian make-up brand ESQA; and intimate feminine and body care brand Luna Daily.