Textured hair care brand The Doux has landed a minority investment from VMG Partners.
The mass brand, founded by stylist Maya Smith and her husband Brian Smith, is stocked in Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Sally Beauty and more. Bestsellers include Mousse Def Texture Foam Curl Enhancer, $16.49; Crazy Sexy Curl Setting Foam, $14.99, and Bee-Girl Honey Curl Custard, $13.99.
The Doux
Of the investment, Aurora James, cofounder of Parity Collective, part of VMG, said: “I am honored to be partnered with The Doux in the next phase of their incredible journey. 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.”
Smith, a trained cosmetologist, launched The Doux in 2011 as a salon in Germany, where her husband was stationed with the U.S. Air Force, before debuting a product line. To this day, each product is developed following a conversation with a client and a challenge that they were having with their hair.
“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,” recounted Smith. “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.”
On partnering with VMG, Smith said: “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.”
She continued: “It was important to us that we’ve always moved really smartly when it comes to what’s next for The Doux. VMG has been just such an incredible partner, because they let us be founders. They let us be us. They don’t touch our brand. The most important part for me was just maintaining the integrity of The Doux, and we’ve been able to really thrive so far in this partnership, and grow the brand to ultimately what we want to see it to be.”
The funds will enable the brand to go deeper and wider in the U.S., according to Smith. Internationally, The Doux is stocked in Boots and Superdrug in the U.K.
