Seen, the hair care brand developed by Harvard-trained dermatologist Dr. Iris Rubin after she experienced breakouts that were traced back to her hair care products, has closed a $9 million Series A funding.
Participants in the round included Mitch Rales, cofounder of Danaher Corporation; Somerville; Sator Grove Holdings, and George Mrkonic, a board director of Ulta Beauty.
Seen also received early funding support from Harvard dermatologists and scientists, including Dr. Rox Anderson at Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital.
“This marks another transformative milestone for Seen,” Rubin said of the funding round. “A majority of adults in the U.S. have self-described sensitive skin and over 100 million people in the U.S. suffer from acne, eczema, dry scalp and hair shedding, which can be exacerbated by irritating, allergenic and/or pore-clogging ingredients in hair products. Our mission is to help people feel confident being seen by providing them salon-quality hair formulations clinically proven to also be skin friendly.”
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Since launching in 2019 with three products, the brand has expanded its range to include shampoo and conditioners, hair serum, styling products, face wash, body wash and more.
Greg Maged, cofounder and chief executive officer of Seen, told WWD that the funds will allow it to focus on innovation, further scale professional sampling to 10,000 dermatology practices in 2025, and expand its retail foot print.
It launched in Ulta in 2022 via its Spark program and is now in more than 700 doors.
“We’ve had 100 percent compounded annual growth since our launch and consistently exceed Ulta’s sales projections for the brand,” Maged said.
Of his investment, Mrkonic said: “I am delighted to become an investor in Seen and believe they are setting a new standard for performance hair care. Seen is applying skin science to hair care, which is exactly the kind of category-defining innovation that gets Ulta excited.”
