Kindred Brands, a newly formed holding company targeting underdeveloped beauty brands, has acquired sensitive skincare brand Kinship in its first deal, with plans to grow it in the natural grocery channel as an authority in skin barrier support.
The purchase price wasn’t disclosed, but Kindred Brands has obtained Kinship’s assets and will pay a three-year rolling royalty to the brand’s previous owners, all financial players, according to CEO and founder Thomas Winarick. With nearly three-quarters of consumers identifying as having sensitive skin and the prevalence of skin conditions like eczema on the rise, Winarick believes the brand can become a category leader.
“We wanted a purposeful brand that solved a real problem and had the bandwidth in terms of brand equity to evolve into categories beyond basic facial and body care,” he says. “We see this as a future The Honest Co.-like platform. It could go into baby, household and a lot of other categories, even pet, that involve sensitive skin issues.”
Kinship was launched in 2019 by Alison Haljun, a former VP at Benefit, and Christin Powell, former GM of Ever Skincare, product development director at Perricone MD and co-founder of Juice Beauty, with sun care initially directed at gen Z consumers. The brand raised a $2.8 million seed round in 2021. Its venture capital backers included Harbinger Ventures, True Beauty Ventures, PEAK6 Investments and Sugar Capital.
In the founding team at Kindred Brands, Winarick, former CEO and president of BioBoutique Beauty Lab, principal and co-founder of Doll Face Beauty and president of Palladio Beauty Group, is joined by two unnamed partners with experience in the consumer sector. The company is privately funded by the founders.
While Kinship has shifted its positioning since its launch from gen Z-focused sun care to its focus on sensitive skin, Megan Bent, founder and managing partner at Harbinger Ventures, emphasizes that its commitment to standout clean products with luxurious aromas hasn’t changed.
“The products are and have always been unique. It just took time to find the right strategy—the right application, price point, audience, channel and leadership team, which is not uncommon for young brands,” says Bent. “Kindred Brands brings extensive experience in beauty and skincare and is excited to support the company in this next phase of growth. It was the right time to pass the baton. We will be cheering them on from the sideline.”
Haljun and Powell have exited the brand. Powell points to intensifying assortment expansion and the proliferation of competitors as significant headwinds that held Kinship back, arguing that even brands with strong repeat purchase rates struggle to maintain shelf space amid a dizzying array of new entrants.
“We see this as a future The Honest Co.-like platform.”
“In spring 2023, one of our smaller specialty retail partners introduced 23 new sunscreen SKUs in a single season. We had spent three years fighting to stay on that shelf. Then, we had to fight all over again,” she says. “This deserves an honest industry conversation. The question isn’t whether there’s room for innovation; there always is. But perhaps the real innovation isn’t the relentless search for the next big thing. Perhaps it’s knowing when to stop. The beauty industry’s obsession with more—more brands, more products, more launches—may be the very thing making it harder for truly great ones to survive.”
With the transition to Kindred Brands’ ownership, Kinship is retaining key personnel. Robert Rheaume, formerly CEO of Mayu Water and GM of ICU Eyewear, joined as CEO in 2024 and has been instrumental in Kinship’s pivot to the natural grocery channel, where it landed in 450 Sprouts store last year, has gained early traction and is working on expanding its presence. Darin Kay Burnell, former director of North America marketing at MAC and North America marketing manager at Nars, is GM of the brand.
Kinship’s sales are evenly split between direct-to-consumer distribution, Amazon and retail. The brand is available at Credo and was sold at Ulta Beauty in the past. Its assortment contains seven facial care and six body care stockkeeping units, with masstige pricing from around $18 to $48. Along with natural grocery expansion, Kinship could pursue expansion in domestic healthy, specialty and digital retail channels.
In June, the brand is slated to introduce three facial care products. Its products feature Kinbiome, a proprietary pre- and probiotic complex. The three bestsellers are Self Reflect SPF 32, Supermello Gel Cream Moisturizer and Brightwave Vitamin C Peptide Face Serum, and they contribute about 60% of sales.
At its height, Winarick estimates the brand generated $5 million in sales. He anticipates it will cross that level again soon. Kindred Brands will increase investment in marketing, claims substantiation and research. The company is reviewing Kinship’s pricing and cost of goods to evaluate margin improvement strategies, with savings being poured into the aforementioned investment areas.
Kindred Brands is among a bumper crop of outfits structured to acquire and revitalize beauty brands deemed to have not fulfilled their potential. Examples include Rare Beauty Brands, AS Beauty, Fundamental Brands, Skyline Beauty Group, Society Brands, Windsong Global and West Lane Capital Partners-backed Elevated Beauty Group.
Kindred Brands isn’t done acquiring brands and continues to hunt for brands Winarick describes as “purposeful” and having a distinct audience and distribution. “We didn’t get into this to build a $5 million company,” he says. “We are really thinking of things we can scale in a major way.”
Click here to learn more about Dealmaker Summit happening June 8 & 9 in New York.
