Arey Closes Oversubscribed $4.15 Million Seed Fund Round
LOS ANGELES, CA
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November 16, 2022 09:04 AM Eastern Standard Time
Arey, an e-commerce business poised to disrupt the hair care industry, is pleased to announce that it has closed an oversubscribed $4.15 million Series Seed financing round, far exceeding its original $2 million target. Female Founders Fund and Greycroft acted as the lead investors. Funds generated through this round of investment are expected to be focused on R&D and distribution expansion.
Arey is one of the first functional beauty brands that targets aging hair with a proactive and science-driven approach, with a specific focus on grey hair. Scientists have identified that genetics only account for approximately 30% of grey hair. Grey hair can be a message from the body about what may be lacking. Vitamin deficiencies due to diet and lifestyle choices associated with oxidative stress, and even chemicals in the dyes used to cover grey hair can be contributors.
Arey was co-founded by CEO Allison Conrad, a leading entrepreneur who ideated the company based on her own hair journey and Jay Small, a former Paul Mitchell protege and top professional celebrity hair stylist aligned with educating clients on hair color loss. Along with their team of medical advisors including internal medicine MDs, dietitians and chemical engineers, the brand offers a range of products, including The System which incorporates an inside-out and outside-in approach with a supplement + hair serum, The Duo of shampoo + conditioner that work together to restore hair health including reducing the likelihood of increased grey hair growth as well as thicker, fuller and more vibrant hair. Arey gets to the root of the problem with a proactive hair care system that can be implemented at the first signs of grey by preserving and even restoring pigment.
Tapping into a clear demand, the brand has experienced 1100% YOY growth since its 2021 inception. Products are available via one-time purchase or subscription basis. With the latter, Arey saw 975% subscription growth in the last year, making up over 70% of their revenue.
Conrad states, “we are not anti-grey, but rather want to provide both men and women an alternative to the current reactive option of hair dye. We are the wrinkle cream of hair care targeting those looking to prevent aging hair and customers who are in the early stages of greying hair.” Speaking to those who have already turned grey Small adds, “Nearly 85% of women have colored their hair, 78% of which is at home. For years, the response to grey hair has been to cover it. Unfortunately, once this cycle begins, it's likely that each time you apply hair color chemicals to your scalp, healthy production of hair is stifled,” he explains. “The average person covering grey will have to maintain color every 4 weeks, and will likely overuse hair color on areas of the hair that do not need coverage. This frequency and overexposure are a high payload of oxidative stress and could be contributing to an increase in gray hair with every application.” Arey has proven successful in decreasing this need, thwarting the aging process of hair.
Anu Duggal, Founding Partner at Female Founders Fund, shares, “We are thrilled to co-lead Arey Grey’s seed round in bringing a much needed science-driven system for addressing aging hair to consumers. The hair care category has been ripe for innovation and co-founders Allison and Jay have taken a preventive approach to hair health by creating a solution that both slows the greying process while also re-pigmenting hair color. Since launch they have seen tremendous organic demand from both female and male consumers with exciting product development in the pipeline. With a big vision to offer better solutions to consumers for hair care, we are excited to be backing this stellar team in their vision to transform hair health.”
“Arey’s science-driven, efficacious solutions and elevated education-based branding speak to consumers across genders in a differentiated way,” said Greycroft Principal Alaina Hartley. “The Greycroft team is excited to support co-founders Allison and Jay as they build the category-defining brand in aging hair care.”
“We built the business with strong unit economics from the beginning and a focus on profitability. We are thrilled that Female Founders Fund and Greycroft recognize the huge potential in this growing category we have created,” Conrad adds.
About Arey:
Launched in 2021, Arey offers science-driven products formulated with vitamins, antioxidants and peptides to help delay and re-pigment grey hair from the inside-out and outside-in, while also helping you grow thicker, fuller, healthier hair overall to consumers in North America and Canada. With 6 current products in their portfolio, the company’s direct-to-consumer, subscription-based business model provides an easy refill plan, ensuring consumers are able to easily maintain a continued high level of hair health. For more information, please visit arey.com and follow @areygrey social media for updates.
About Female Founders Fund:
Female Founders Fund is the pre-eminent early-stage fund investing in female-founded technology companies with $100M under management across three funds. Since its founding in 2014, Female Founders Fund has invested in over 70 of the fastest growing female-led companies nationwide. These include category leaders like Maven Clinic, Tala, ELOQUII, Real, Peanut, BentoBox, Billie, Co--Star, and more. For more information visit www.femalefoundersfund.com
About Greycroft:
Greycroft is a seed-to-growth venture capital firm that partners with entrepreneurs of all backgrounds to build category-defining companies. We have deep experience investing in consumer, enterprise, digital health, and fintech sectors around the globe and work as a team to support and advise entrepreneurs, empowering them to execute on their visions. Greycroft manages over $2 billion in capital raised and has made over 300 investments since inception. For more information, please visit https://www.greycroft.com.
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