Harry's Labs, the in-house incubator started by razor brand Harry's, has agreed to acquire DTC deodorant brand Lumē.
WHO: Lumē is a range of aluminum-free deodorants created to deal with below-the-belt body odor in 2017 by Dr. Shannon Klingman, a board-certified OB-GYN. The products are clinically tested to block the ability of bacteria to consume fluids like sweat, semen, urine, and blood that lead to odor. Lumē, which was bootstrapped since its founding, is part of the $3.2 billion all-purpose deodorant market.
Harry's created the innovation group in 2018 to incubate or invest in DTC brands. Their portfolio includes cat product start-up Cat Person, body care line Flamingo, and haircare line Headquarter.
WHY: In April 2021, Harry's raised a $155 million Series E round of funding that gave the company a $1.7 billion valuation. At the time of the funding, Harry's said it had more than $200 million in cash to make deals with brands that can leverage the company's design, marketing, and direct-to-consumer capabilities. Over the next year, Harry's Labs will work with Klingman to scale the business and accelerate DTC growth.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: "The idea about M&A for Harry is that we want to be a multi-class CPG company and build a family of CPG brands," Harry's Chief Development Officer Tehmina Haider said. "We want to create more and better things for consumers, and we are looking for brands that align with that mission, positioned in a way that we can be helpful and have brands that are meeting the needs without. "
“As soon as I met them, I could see we were aligned," Lumē founder Dr. Shannon Klingman told TechCrunch. "As a self-funded brand, you can reach capacity to front-load inventory, but Harry's has the track record to help us do that. I love that they were interested in Lumē for all of the good things and saw the value of what I am building.”
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