Australian beauty brands have become hot properties. Retail Beauty recently reported on L’Occitane‘s acquisition of a majority stake in Grown Alchemist and Point King Capital‘s minority investment in Lanolips.
Gauge Capital, the US-based private equity firm, has acquired BondiBoost, the Australian professional haircare brand, for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2018, BondiBoost sells direct-to-consumers through the website – www.bondiboost.com.au – and entered the salon market in Australia in 2019. The brand is vegan and cruelty-free and focuses on core hair concerns such as texture, breakage, thickness and repair. Cult favourites include the Wave Wand – one sells every 60 seconds – and Miracle Mask.
BondiBoost quickly expanded overseas and has enjoyed major success in the US and the UK with estimated worldwide sales of US$80 million in 2021. The brand is sold through its own website in the US and Ulta Beauty, the largest specialty beauty chain in the US, in addition to Ulta Beauty concept stores in Target.
Social media has been key to the brand’s rapid rise and BondiBoost has more than 680,000 followers on Instagram. Its Facebook group, BondiBoost Babes, boasts 80,000 members.
The financial backing of Gauge Capital will super-charge international growth. But BondiBoost’s HQ and product development facilities will remain in Australia.
The acquisition is in line with the dynamic double-digit growth of the prestige haircare market over the past two years. According to the NPD Group, prestige haircare sales in the US have reached US$2.6 billion and 90 per cent of American consumers surveyed have a keen interest in purchasing premium haircare products.