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Iris&Romeo Receives Funding from BrandProject

Published June 18, 2021
Published June 18, 2021
Iris&Romeo

The skincare-meets-makeup hybrid clean beauty brand Iris&Romeo announced a partnership with early-stage venture capital firm BrandProject.

WHO: Founded, led, and run by women, Iris&Romeo was born from Michele Gough Baril’s belief that women can liberate themselves from outdated beauty industry ideals and limited choices by working together to support female-crafted and -oriented beauty solutions. Bolstering a quickly growing multiuse lineup of clean, all-in-one skincare and makeup hybrid products, Iris&Romeo combines clean ingredients and luxurious textures to support high-efficacy formulas to minimize women’s routines while maximizing results.

BrandProject invests in and supports exceptional early-stage founders today, as they build, launch, and scale the iconic consumer brands of tomorrow. Their unique model blends support for strategic planning, operational capacity building, brand and marketing depth, and more to maximize brand and business value alongside founders. Drawing upon more than seven decades of global brand expertise across a diverse range of global category leaders, the BrandProject team identifies market disruptor investment opportunities from pre-seed to series A. 

WHY: To help aid continued product innovation, brand growth, and new hires for Iris&Romeo. Funds from BrandProject’s investment will be used to capitalize on Best Skin Days’ early success and recruit a team to help the Iris&Romeo brand scale through the development of additional products in the hybrid skincare-meets-cosmetics category. Consumers and brand advocates alike can expect to see this new innovation as early as July 2021.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: "We’re problem solving for the busy modern woman, so she doesn’t have to make sacrifices," said Michele Gough Baril, founder and CEO of Iris & Romeo. "For decades, we’ve been sold a more-is-more approach to beauty. Life is overwhelming enough without a 10-step routine or drawers full of useless clutter that eventually ends up in the landfill. We took a smarter approach and streamlined her routine into a more sustainable edit of all-in-one hero products that are as easy to use as throwing on a moisturizer and deliver a healthy, no makeup look. It’s been super exciting to see how our thoughtfulness really resonates with our community, and witness so much organic love and growth as a result."

"While Michele’s prior experience as VP of Brand & Consumer Engagement at Smashbox certainly established her credibility, we were compelled by her mission of producing products that combined high performance skincare and makeup for an all-in-one solution," said Manica Blain, Venture Partner at BrandProject. "The Iris&Romeo brand Michele is creating deeply resonates with a community of busy women who seek simplification in their routines, yet still expect efficacy, and without the luxury price tag. We love that Michele has organically built a growing and loyal consumer base looking to align itself with a brand based on the core values of modern women, and we're thrilled about this next chapter of growth."

DETAILS:

  • The BrandProject invested in Iris&Romeo and will support the brand with day-to-day operational support and leadership in key functions such as marketing, strategy, technology, and finance.
  • In 2020, the brand's sales surpassed expectations with 55% of revenue to date coming from non-paid efforts.
  • The brand launched its first product in Q4 2019: Best Skin Days, a 5-in-1 skincare-makeup-SPF hybrid, quickly solidified itself as a hero and saw 30% month-over-month growth through the pandemic.
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