Unilever Ventures Leads Arey’s Series A for Anti-Gray Haircare
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Unilever Ventures has led Arey’s Series A round for an undisclosed amount. Existing investors Female Founders Fund and Greycroft also took part.
Arey is based in Los Angeles. The anti-gray haircare brand was founded by CEO Allison Conrad, a former president of Blushington, and Jay Small, who had been her hairstylist for more than a decade.
The deal lines up with Unilever’s broader interest in hair aging and supplementation. That includes its acquisition of hair growth supplement brand Nutrafol, its investment in ElixrBio, a biotechnology company studying why hair grays and falls out, and its own research into the appearance of gray hair. Unilever Ventures principal Izzy Hemington has joined Arey’s board. Hemington first found the brand as a customer in 2022, and Arey did not run a formal process before taking her firm’s money.
Arey plans to put the funding into research and development, clinical studies, hiring, consumer education, distribution and marketing. The eight-person California company is also exploring a brand ambassador and bigger retail partnerships. Credo and Erewhon carry its products today, though retail is a small slice of the business, while online subscriptions make up a significant share.
Core products range from $32 to $58 and include Not Today, Grey supplements, To The Root serum, Wash shampoo, Smooth conditioner and the newly launched Good Night, Grey nighttime serum. Arey’s topicals use its patented Mela-9 Complex, a blend of antioxidants, botanicals and a peptide meant to support hair pigmentation and tackle oxidative stress. The brand is working on products in new formats and will step up brand-level marketing with the fresh capital.
Arey recently finished a six-month, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 173 people that tested its Not Today, Grey supplement together with To The Root serum. The brand says the study has been accepted for publication in the November issue of the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology. In the active group, 88% of participants saw less gray-hair growth after six months, and the group recorded a 13% decrease in gray hair against a 10% increase in the placebo group.
Arey previously raised a $4 million seed round. According to Conrad, its core customer has shifted from roughly 40 to 45 years old down to 35 to 40.
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