Unilever Ventures backs Australia skincare brand

"Dr Roebuck's appealed to us because it is a brand that really lives and breathes clean beauty and its Australian lifestyle roots," Rachel Harris, director of Unilever Ventures, said in a statement. "We look forward to working with [founders Kim and Zoe Roebuck and CEO Natalie Sperling] to help further drive Dr Roebuck's international growth plans."

The Roebuck sisters founded the company in 2016, taking inspiration from their physician-entrepreneur parents, who had previously created a separate product under the name Dr Roebuck for the treatment of dry skin. The company sells its products in 20 countries, including the US and across Southeast Asia, and has secured online sales partnerships with pharmacies and retail outlets including Sephora.

Products are positioned as having clean, effective, and multi-benefit ingredients, many of which are native to Australia. Marketing also emphasizes a lack of parabens, sulfates, gluten, fillers, synthetic fragrances, harmful chemicals, and dyes. Every vitamin, antioxidant, and professional-grade active ingredient is said to be sustainably-sourced, fair-trade and personally vetted by the founders.

UK-based Unilever Ventures invests in personal care, e-commerce, and digital transformation companies at the early stage, with a view to accelerating growth by providing access to the resources of its parent company’s global ecosystem. Recent Asia deals include beauty products retailer Pureplay Skin Sciences and online grocery delivery start-up Milkbasket. Both are based in India.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Consumer
• Early-stage
• Australia
• manufacturing