Brett Blundy can spot a winner. The AFR Rich Lister co-founded Sanity Entertainment and launched Bras N Things and Lovisa Jewellery during his 40 year corporate career.
Together with Daniel Agostinelli and other major investors in the Edison Growth Fund, the billionaire has acquired a significant stake in Oz Hair & Beauty.
Agostinelli has invested in a private capacity, but co-founded Sanity Entertainment with Blundy and is the CEO of the Accent Group. The company specialises in on-trend footwear and has over 500 stores across Australia and New Zealand, selling 19 brands including Merrell, Saucony, HYPE, Skechers and Stylerunner.
Oz Hair & Beauty was founded in 2012 by Anthony Nappa and his brother Guy joined the company in 2017. Their father Elio founded the Oz Hair salon network in 1986, centred by its flagship location in Sydney’s QVB.
Oz Hair & Beauty has a current turnover of $40 million from online sales – a surge of 68 per cent in the year to June 30.
The e-tailer saw sales soar by 250 per cent when skincare was added to the previously hair-focused site. Oz Hair & Beauty offers a large rollcall of mainstream and niche brands, including Olaplex, Eau Thermale Avène, Boost Lab, St Tropez, SheaMoisture, Redken, and Innisfree.
Online haircare sales have boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic and there’s still plenty of room for growth. Currently, online sales account for 11 per cent of the Australian haircare market, by contrast to 18 per cent in the US.
This latest investment will help to scale up Oz Hair & Beauty. Major plans going forward include the enhancement of the current e-commerce platform and offering more brands and categories.
The company currently has one bricks-and-mortar store in Sydney and will roll-out more physical stores next year. But the major focus of the business will remain online sales.