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In the wake of the scalp care brand’s meteoric rise, Divi has landed a minority investment from Norwest Venture Partners.
Informed by influencer Dani Austin’s own experience with postpartum hair loss, the 2021-founded brand offers a range of scalp and hair care products meant to boost strand health and address excess shedding, particularly among women.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“This is the first time we’ve gone into scalp health, which is something that needs to be talked about more — at Norwest, we always try to be early to these trends,” said Sonya Brown, general partner and co-head of Norwest’s growth equity team. The firm’s other beauty investments include hair color brand Madison Reed, acne solutions provider Face Reality Skincare and body care-focused Maëlys.
A breakout brand in its category, Divi fits the bill: Its hero scalp serum netted $33 million in sales in its debut year, and Divi entered Ulta Beauty stores one year later. This July, the brand forayed into 500 Ulta at Target doors, and is now full-chain at the shops-in-shop as well as Ulta’s stand-alone stores.
When the brand launched its whipped treatment mask in September for $34, it sold more than 37,000 units in 24 hours.
“Norwest has a lot of experience working with founder-led brands and understanding the nuances that go into growing a brand that’s not only so personal to me, but my audience,” said Texas-based Austin, who has more than 2.3 million Instagram followers and cofounded Divi with her husband, Jordan Ramirez.
In addition to Ulta, the brand sells on Amazon and is increasingly setting its sights on the salon channel, aiming to enlist 1,200 hairstylists by year-end for its Scalp Specialist program.
“We’re excited about increasing our brand awareness — there are a lot of people who don’t know about Divi and so with this investment, getting Divi into more hands domestically and, one day, internationally is the dream,” said Austin, adding that boosting the brand’s storytelling efforts is a key priority of the indusion.
“We’re honing in over the next couple of years on how essential taking care of your scalp with — the same way washing your face or brushing your teeth are,” said Austin, adding that social media, packaging and retail activations will all be avenues for this effort.
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