UK-based health and beauty incubator The Others Beauty Co has shifted from a retail distribution to a direct-to-consumer model, raising £300,000 with a business valuation of £3million.

WHO: The Others Beauty Co is a health and beauty brand incubator which formulates, creates, and activates through D2C “mass niche” brands that address specific consumer needs. The brand house was co-founded by Stu Jolley, who has an extensive background in health and beauty and manufacturing, alongside Simon Forster, a branding expert who founded leading UK design agency Robot Food. Together they are working with a group of e-commerce investors as well as Pharmapacks to bring a number of disruptive, purpose-driven brands to market. The first brand, Stories & Ink, is focused on tattoo care, but the group has identified a number of other vertical opportunities.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: Stu Jolley, Managing Director at The Others Beauty Co, said, “Moving from retail to D2C has been a monumental learning. In just 18 months we’ve gone from a start-up with a great brand and products to a brand house that’s partnered with one of the largest health and beauty sellers in the U.S. Beyond the partnership with Pharmapacks we’ve secured investment from a number of industry-leading brand and E-commerce experts. Our vision is strong and everyone has something to bring to the table.”

DETAILS:

• UK-based health and beauty incubator The Others Beauty Co has shifted from retail distribution to a direct-to-consumer model, raising £300,000 with a business valuation of £3 million.
• Stories & Ink is launching in mid-August through the company’s own Shopify website and across North America and Canada with leading e-commerce partner Pharmapacks.
• The tattoo industry is worth billions globally, and over 40% of the Western world has at least one tattoo. Yet there wasn’t a dedicated long-term skincare brand to help look after them. The team secured listings in retailers including Boots, Superdrug, Selfridges, and Urban Outfitters globally. After three years of validating the brand, product range, and consumer fit, it became clear that the largest opportunity for growth was online. So, in 2019, they made the decision to move away from the constraints of retail and focus their attention on D2C and rebranding the business from Electric Ink to Stories & Ink.
• New York-based Pharmapacks has recently raised up to $150,000,000 in growth financing from JPMorgan Chase and GPI Capital to accelerate the company’s continued growth and investment in supporting emerging brands.