REI has invested in Dune Suncare, the sunscreen startup known for its skin-tone-inclusive clear-gel formulas and skincare-forward perspective on sun protection, through its venture fund.
Established in 2021, the outdoor retailer’s Path Ahead Ventures is a $30 million fund backing early-stage companies led by people of color and women in the outdoor, fitness, health and wellness or sustainability markets. Dune Suncare declined to disclose the amount of the investment from the fund, which states on its website that it writes checks of $100,000 and up. The brand joins Alder, Outdoor Element, PYNRS, Allmansright, Alpine Parrot, Wheel the World, Oya and Kobee’s in Path Ahead Ventures’ portfolio.
The investment carries personal significance for Dune Suncare co-founders Emily Doyle and Mei Kwok. “Not many people know REI even has a fund, it’s still fairly new,” says Doyle. “We’ve been longtime fans of the brand. I grew up doing Outward Bound trips and shopping the REI racks in Philadelphia. As we’ve gotten older, we’ve only appreciated more what the co-op represents in the outdoor space.”
Kwok says, “Path Ahead Ventures supports founders of color as well as female founders, and that meant so much to us. During diligence, we met with the LPs and shared our story and why skin-tone inclusivity is central to the brand. I actually broke down and cried. I felt so grateful they were supporting us not only as founders, but as women and people of color.”
The investment is part of a seed extension round that Dune Suncare anticipates will close in the first quarter. Previously, the brand raised approximately $3.6 million, according to financial information resource PitchBook, and Joyance Partners, Point King Capital, Top Knot Ventures and Blue Bell Capital are among its prior investors.
Mounting consumer demand and the prospects of emerging players chipping away at legacy incumbents have drawn investors to sun care. The sun care brands Ultra Violette, Minu and Standard Procedure secured funding last year. Market research firm Grand View Research estimates the United States sun-care market at roughly $14.35 billion in 2023, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 6.1% through 2030.
“We’re really pacing to build the next Supergoop.”
In conversations with investors, Doyle and Kwok were frustrated that male venture capitalists using sunscreen sparingly didn’t understand beauty consumers’ embrace of the sun-care category. And they discovered investors were careful to avoid brands viewed as too dependent on viral momentum.
“We’re really pacing to build the next Supergoop. That’s really where we think we’re going and I think how we’re being treated,” says Doyle. “Having virality on TikTok is a really cool thing to happen to your brand, but ultimately it can showcase really false hockey stick growth that doesn’t actually give a clear depiction of longevity in market.”
This year, Doyle says Dune Suncare’s sales doubled, and it’s on track to 5X sales in 2026 as new retail and sports partnerships, products and brand collaborations manifest. Industry sources cited by the publication BeautyMatter project its 2025 revenue at $2 million to $5 million.
Dune Suncare is sold direct-to-consumer, the smallest part of its distribution; at Ulta Beauty, Bluemercury, Amazon and Dermstore; and across an expanding specialty footprint with more than 600 boutiques as well as luxury hotels and cruise partners like Auberge and Ritz-Carlton properties.
The brand has strengthened its medical channel presence through dermatologists’ offices and Aire Health’s marketplace enabling dermatologists to sell beauty products. In e-commerce, its Amazon business is up 200% this year. REI doesn’t stock Dune Suncare, but it’s under consideration for placement at the retailer.
The brand’s customers are split evenly between men and women and span ages 16 to 56, a large audience it attributes to its clear-gel formats, hydration claims and affordability. As its distribution expands, Doyle expects its customer base to grow further.
“Fragrance is a huge opportunity for us to uplevel from historical fragrances in the sun-care space.”
“Right now, with our distribution, we’re considered a prestige brand. That being said, everything’s priced below $30, still very accessible,” she says. “We’ve always been very inspired by Sun Bum and what they were able to achieve in terms of really trying to speak to as wide an audience as possible… building a line that can start as a prestige brand and then roll into a masstige.”
Today, Dune Suncare has seven products—The Bod Guard, The Mug Guard and The Mineral Melt are bestsellers—and that number is poised to rise to around 11 next year. It plans to introduce a signature scent and a collaboration with a fragrance brand, and it’s also developing two non-sunscreen products with a partner brand, a move that could broaden its merchandise and audience umbrella. Performance-focused products and sports partnerships are a major emphasis for 2026, too.
“Fragrance is a huge opportunity for us to uplevel from historical fragrances in the sun-care space where everything traditionally is pina colada or coconut,” says Doyle. “We feel like there’s an opportunity to take an Aesop or a Grown Alchemist approach in sun care, particularly in this masstige space where that doesn’t yet exist.”
At the start of this year, Dune Suncare pulled back significantly on its digital marketing spending and shifted its strategy to focus on affiliate marketing and white-listing creator content. In 2026, truck and out-of-home advertising are on the marketing agenda, but the brand will lean into community with events and loyalty initiatives. It will be embarking on a relationship with community rewards platform TYB and its own membership club.
Doyle and Kwok have concentrated this year professionalizing the remote-work brand’s infrastructure, bringing on a fractional CMO, COO, VP of sales and CFO. They’re exploring an additional senior hire in 2026 as Dune Suncare prepares for greater retail distribution and a pipeline of partnerships and product extensions.
“We’re not here for a marketing ploy,” says Doyle. “We feel a responsibility beyond building a trend around a brand. We want to create the best products in the U.S. that can then go global.”
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