Black-Owned Haircare Brand Receives Investment From VMG Partners
The Doux, a Black-owned hair care brand, has received a minority investment from VMG Partners, according to WWD. Maya Smith and Brian Smith launched the brand in 2011 as a salon in Germany, where Brian was stationed as a US Air Force veteran.
“I opened a salon because at the time, there weren’t really any hair spaces overseas that really focused on curly hair. I started developing [the product line] in 2010, but we launched in 2012, and then when we came back to the States, our official mass launch was Christmas of 2017,” Smith told WWD.
About The Doux
Maya Smith is a licensed cosmetologist with 28 years of experience. When the couple moved to Germany in 2008, they saw an opportunity to open a salon for clients with textured hair. Eventually, they launched a product line after Maya worked with chemists for two years, as stated by CEW.
“Now married with five boys, we launched The Doux from a US Air Force base in Germany and never looked back. As co-founders of OUIDOUX, we’ve built two globally-recognized salons and the multi-award-winning hair care brand that’s changing the game,” it says on their website.
The brand is now sold in retailers such as Target, Walmart, Sally Beauty, and CVS. “Target was our first retailer, and then the following year, Walmart and Sally, and it snowballed from there. We’ve grown exponentially, and the businesses stayed profitable,” Smith told WWD.
It has sold half a million units of the number one bestselling hero product, Mousse Def Texture Foam. and quadrupled sales over the past four years.
Investment from VMG Partners
Aurora James, cofounder of Parity Collective, part of VMG, said she was honored to partner with The Doux.
“I know firsthand that when Black founders are properly resourced to win, the ripple effects of those wins spread throughout the community. I can’t think of a family more steadfast, committed, brilliant, and deserving than The Doux to change the face of what success and community looks like in the hair care space,” Aurora James, cofounder of Parity Collective, part of VMG.”
“When you get into mass, you have your distribution, you have materials, and inventory, and so being able to get the brand to a place where we can scale has always been a challenge, watching what’s happening just in the competitive space. We were able to just keep the brand healthy long enough to be able to pursue looking to do some fundraising,” Smith said.
The capital will enable the hair brand to expand across the US and internationally.
Image: Leon Bennett / Stringer
