In a beauty M&A market fixated on separating forever brands from fleeting ones, L Catterton has taken a significant minority stake in Rōz, confident that the credibility founder Mara Roszak has cultivated over two decades as a celebrity hairstylist can translate into lasting consumer loyalty.
The investment comes amid strong demand for leading haircare assets and follows L Catterton’s funding of Remedy, another brand centered on the expertise of its founder, dermatologist Muneeb Shah, reinforcing the firm’s belief that brands rooted in founder authority can have a durable competitive advantage. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, although industry sources estimate Rōz’s annual sales are in the $20 million to $40 million range.
Existing investors Silas Capital and G9 Ventures participated in the latest round. The capital will support retail and salon distribution, product development and team expansion. Rōz, which is pronounced “rose,” previously attracted investment from industry insiders, including celebrity makeup artists and hairstylists Melanie Inglessis, Rachel Goodwin, Pati Dubroff and Sami Knight, and celebrities such as Lily Collins, Zoe Saldaña and Brooklyn Decker.
Rōz has landed in around 200 Sephora doors in just over a year, and it also sells through more than 300 salons, a channel it considers pivotal to its strategy for validation and awareness. Historically, hairstylists have gravitated toward brands created by their peers. In addition to Sephora, Rōz sells at Credo, Goop, Nordstrom and Amazon. Its sales are split roughly evenly between direct-to-consumer and retail.
The brand reports retail sales across key partners have increased 136% year over year as of June 6, and its salon business is up 63% year over year as of last month. Its assortment contains 11 products, with core offerings generally priced from $32 to $52 and the most recent release being Wave Texturizing & Finishing Mist. Milk Hair Serum is the hero product. Rōz divulges a bottle sells every three minutes, and Milk Hair Serum is the first purchase for 46% of new customers.
“I really believe Rōz is the next pro legacy brand on the forefront of clean professional innovation. That’s what I want for us, and I think we’re on our path to doing that,” says Roszak, who counts Emma Stone, Zoe Saldaña, Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway and Nicole Kidman among her clients. “My goal is to help people with their hair, and Rōz does that. We have the clinicals to back it and the determination and focus. The opportunity now with this investment is to continue to build on what we’ve started.”
Courtney Nelson, managing director at L Catterton, says, “We have been in pursuit of businesses with extraordinary founders that bring legitimacy to the brand formulation and conviction to the consumer. You see that in Remedy founded by Dr. Shah and obviously in Rōz founded by Mara. It ties back to what’s happening in beauty overall, where we’re seeing that consumers are seeking efficacy, sensorial-led brands and lifestyle together, and they’re not willing to compromise.”
L Catterton, which was formed through a partnership between private equity firm Catterton, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Groupe Arnault, Bernard Arnault’s family holding company, has experience in haircare, notching wins in the past with Frederic Fekkai’s sale to Procter & Gamble and Nutrafol’s sale to Unilever. Beyond Rōz and Remedy, its beauty portfolio features California Naturals, Kopari, DIBS Beauty, Merit, Vyrao and YSE Beauty.
“I really believe Rōz is the next pro legacy brand on the forefront of clean professional innovation.”
Rōz’s relationship with Sephora could put it on the traditional route to an eventual exit to a strategic buyer. Briogeo sold to Wella, Ouai to Procter & Gamble, and both K18 and Living Proof to Unilever. Nelson stresses that L Catterton isn’t interested in brands securing a particular retail partner, but in becoming category leaders where they’re sold.
She explains, “If you’re endeavoring to be in Ulta or in Sephora, our guidance is to say it’s your job as a brand to be as much of a partner to that retailer as they should be to you.”
Rōz plays in prestige haircare, the fastest-growing prestige beauty category in the first quarter of this year, according to market research firm Circana. Prestige accounts for roughly 30% of beauty sales overall in the United States, but its penetration in haircare remains lower, leaving room for further premiumization as consumers continue to trade up.
Nelson cites L Catterton’s research indicating that once consumers begin buying prestige haircare, they tend to remain in the category. Rather than viewing haircare as a commodity purchase, consumers are increasingly willing to spend more on products targeting specific concerns. Consumers are drawn to Rōz to address concerns like frizz and dryness.
Nelson elaborates that haircare occupies a unique place in consumers’ routines because it’s closely tied to confidence and self-image, making shoppers open to trading up in price for products that deliver results. Combined with founder credibility, effective formulas and a strong emotional connection, she says, those attributes can spark powerful brand loyalty.
Roszak says Rōz’s customers are “busy professional women who want to look great and care about ingredients and quality. They actually realize that, when they invest in a quality product like ours, they are spending less over time because these products work so much harder for them.” She emphasizes, “It’s bridging that gap between what pros use and what clients use.”
Treatments like Rōz’s Milk Hair Serum have been big growth drivers in prestige haircare of late, and they provide better economics for brands that can be successful with them. They can charge more for treatments than for shampoos and conditioners, and treatments usually command greater retention. At Rōz, Nelson points out that Milk Hair Serum serves as a gateway into the broader assortment, with customers purchasing more products from the brand after trying it.
Roszak says L Catterton’s founder-friendliness was a critical factor in choosing it to be Rōz’s backer. With its help, she can concentrate on her strengths like product development, haircare education and salon partnerships, while delegating other functions. The brand currently has around 25 people on its team.
“It was never my dream to be the face of anything,” she says. “I love hair and I love product and I love being of service. It’s my greatest passion and it’s where I’ve spent my entire adult life focused. What I recognize is that people want help with their hair. And so long as I’m providing value there, being forward-facing, educating our client and speaking to pros because they really are my peers, I feel like it is important.”
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