Launched: 2019
Founders: Oliver Zak and Selom Agbitor
Key Executives:
2024 Full Year Expected Revenue: $20 to $30 million
How many offline points of distribution do you project globally for 2024?
3- Main; 1,000 to 3,000 for smaller pro channel
Primary Category: Body Care
Key Markets: United States
Retail Partnerships: Walmart
Primary Distribution Channel: DTC
Other Distribution Channels: Mass
Funding Rounds:
Venture Capital
Total Funds Raised: $12 million
Notable Investors / Funding Partners:
Notable Advisors / Board Members:
Insights from Co-Founder + CEO Oliver Zak and SVP, Marketing Erin Murray
For the last five decades, tattoo care has stagnated and been slow to address skin and tattoo health concerns. Mad Rabbit is a catalyst for tattoo care innovation. With the growing consumer (roughly 46% of Americans) now having at least one tattoo, and limited clean and vegan tattoo care options, Mad Rabbit is reimagining tattoo care with easy solutions that support both the consumer and the professional tattoo artist community. Our focus encompasses a full cycle tattoo skincare routine from preventative and post aftercare to daily tattoo skincare solutions.
What are some of your key business initiatives for 2024?
Key business initiatives are continuing to grow North American retail presence through our current retail partners, while also expanding into additional brick-and-mortar locations; growing our professional sector within tattoo shops; developing A+ content that will continue to only amplify the brands presence while also becoming the tattoo knowledge and lifestyle destination through the expansion of our new content and tattoo studio in Los Angeles; raising additional capital.
What are you most proud of having accomplished since the business has launched?
I am most proud to say that Mad Rabbit created the tattoo skincare category and scaled it into mass retail with Walmart.
What has been the biggest surprise since the brand was founded?
The biggest surprise since we founded Mad Rabbit has always been the diversity of customers that we are able to serve. Our customers include chefs, military, doctors, lawyers, moms, dads, grandmas, ufc fighters, etc. the list goes on. I think that’s reflective of tattoo popularity in general; it’s no longer on the fringes.
What aspect of your brand DNA fuels your competitive advantage?
Mad Rabbit is a collective of tattoo fanatics. We believe in fostering an inclusive community that supports all forms of expression by celebrating, promoting, and empowering individuality, artistry, adventure, and anything badass. Tattoo culture is much larger than one would naturally think, and over the last five years, we are so proud to have grown and championed such a huge community of tattoo enthusiasts. Our brand thrives on our community—at the end of the day, we are really born and exist because of them. In combination with providing true integrated tattoo care and thinking about the full tattoo lifecycle, we are the leaders within the space while breaking barriers one at a time and forging a path for the tattooed community.
Please share your insight on the future of the beauty industry.
The future of the beauty industry allows for a lot of intersection, which we are already seeing through more diversity across all categories and the birth of new ones like wellness, ingestibles, tattoo care, and beyond. Beauty really is multidimensional and the future will need to support that. We, as brands, have a responsibility to support the multidimensional customer but also be judicious about how we affect the global landscape through sustainability, formulation, and even giving back.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
The best piece of advice I have been given is to always be patient and resilient—there will always be another roadblock to overcome.
What is the best mistake you've ever made and what did you learn?
In our second year of business, as Covid was plunging the world’s global supply chain into chaos, we quickly learned of the severe consequences of selling out of a winning product. It was the first year we launched our sunscreen, and it flew off the shelves quicker than expected. To compound the effect of lost revenue, we were also pushed to the back of the production queue after being deprioritized by our manufacturer. The early mistake led to a painful lesson in planning for new successful product launches. As a result, we take much greater care in vetting our partners and ensuring that we will be taken care of in times of uncertainty.
Paying it forward, what advice would you give to someone contemplating launching a beauty brand?
Know your audience and your community as well as you can—understanding what their needs are, their frustrations, and the white space your innovation can support. Try to have a plan of how you will scale in six months, one year, and in three years. Try to bring on experts that can support the fundamentals you do not, in order to avoid hiccups as much as you can. And lastly, really be willing to sacrifice—your time, your investment, but not at the cost of the customer experience. Starting a business is not for the faint of heart; you need to be willing to roll up your sleeves right beside your team.
If you could change one thing in the beauty industry what would it be?
Know your audience—and less is always more. We see so many brands trying to do too many things and then losing traction. Rather, we have the huge responsibility to be more meaningful in our approach.
