Led by Symrise and joined by investors Next Coast Ventures and Belcorp, transparent fragrance brand Phlur Inc. has completed Series A funding raising a total of $7 million and concurrently announced the acquisition of clean beauty manufacturer Texas Beauty Labs.
"At Symrise, we have been leading the way for more sustainable fragrance and cosmetic ingredients for years and we fully support Phlur's vision of full transparency. We are excited to partner with The Goodkind Co to be able to efficiently bring this innovation to the indie beauty community for the first time," said Achim Daub, global president of scent & care, for Symrise. "This combination is even more compelling, as it enables Phlur to accelerate its leading position in clean fragrance, and creatively double down in clean beauty overall—both of which are of strategic interest to us as a leading supplier of innovative cosmetic ingredients and sustainable fragrance materials and creations around the world."
Along with the funding announcement, Phlur has acquired Texas Beauty Lab, which was founded in 2008 by Mary Berry, and effectively rebranded it as The Goodkind Co. With the combined capabilities, Phlur will further enhance its products and service offerings. Phlur and The Goodkind Co first partnered for the development of a body care line and subsequently launched a natural deodorant line called Explore Naturals.
Related: Forward Thinking: The Natural Evolution
"When we started four years ago, the words 'clean beauty' were not part of the common vernacular. We created a line of thoughtfully crafted fragrances with full ingredient transparency because we felt it was the right thing to do. Now clean beauty has become a movement, with more and more people correctly holding brands accountable to create safer and more sustainable products and be fully transparent in their product decisions," said Eric Korman, co-founder and CEO of Phlur. "When I first met Mary and heard her story, I knew that our shared vision of creating beauty products with integrity and heart could lead to some amazing opportunities. We're thrilled by our new ability to rapidly evolve and test new products, and equally important, extend this ability to empower the independent beauty community. Our combined objective: to further accelerate the adoption of clean products by mainstream customers."
