Crown Affair has some new backers.
The two-year-old hair care brand, currently sold in Sephora, Goop and Violet Grey, has closed a $5 million series A funding round. Investors include Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow, and the round was led by True Beauty Ventures.
The brand is expected to reach $10 million in revenues this year, according to industry sources, although Dianna Cohen, founder and chief executive officer of Crown Affair, declined to comment on the estimates.
Crown Affair launched at the start of 2020, just before the pandemic. “It was a shock to everybody in terms of how you shifted your behavior,” said Cohen. “In a weird way, it allowed me to be incredibly intentional about how we built this business.”
As it turned out, hair care wound up as one of prestige beauty’s biggest gainers in 2020 and 2021, as exemplified by Olaplex’s IPO and continued momentum in the category.
“As a team, we’ve been able to create products that give you that no-makeup-makeup look for your hair,” Cohen said. With that in mind, though, the brand is built just as much on ritualization as it is on results. “When it comes to building the brand, we built it around time: taking your time and slowing down is a core brand pillar. All of a sudden, most of the countries had this time, people couldn’t run to their stylists…I wanted to create a line of products that will actually make you look forward to wash day.”
Cohen plans to expand the brand’s relationship with Sephora, as well as invest in product development and Crown Affair’s team. “We’ve really set the foundation with our partners, with our team and with our existing investors,” Cohen said.
As Paltrow said in an email, “I always look to invest in companies that fill a white space in my own life. When I discovered Crown Affair, I was quick to incorporate it into my daily ritual and I rushed to start carrying it on Goop. I’m a staunch proponent of what Dianna and the brand are building, and can’t wait to see what’s on the horizon for this world-class team.”
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Source: WWD