Aussie skincare brands Boost Lab and tbh Skincare have merged under a new beauty umbrella — York Street Brands. The merger is part of a $5 million Series B funding round led by Alium Capital.
Both brands launched back in 2020, with tbh Skincare quickly becoming known for its acne-focused products, including creams, cleaners and pimple patches. As of April 2023, tbh has been available in over 400 Priceline stores. The brand has also seen 509% revenue growth since January 2022.
tbh has also recently been doing the algorithm rounds on TikTok thanks to a video made by co-founder Rachael Wilde that shows her reacting to Abbie Chatfield mentioning the brand in a radio segment.
@rachhwilde The queen @abbiechatfield talking about my brand @tbh skincare live on air 😭💖 #smallbusiness #skincarebrand #daymade #acnetreatment #founderstory
Boost Lab specialises in serums that target a range of skin concerns, including blemishes, dehydration and dark eye circles. To date, it has its own pharmacy retail partnerships through Priceline, TerryWhite and Chemmart.
This merger, and the fresh funding round, will be used for new product development as well as expansion into new international markets. There will also be a focus on new distribution channels under the York Street Brands name.
Both companies will retain their own branding publicly despite the executive team merging. Boost Lab co-founder, Craig Schweighoffer, has been named as CEO of the freshly minted merger. Schweighoffer previously founded ECOYA and the skincare company Trilogy.
“It is fantastic to be partnering with such a strong brand and outstanding founders, Rachael and Bridget. It truly is a match made in heaven with York Street Brands having a complete management team that is without peers. Further, with a strong balance sheet, York Street Brands can fast-track the significant growth opportunities that lay ahead. Exciting times,” Schweighoffer said in a statement.
tbh skincare’s co-founders, Rachael Wilde and Bridget Mitchell, will become the chief marketing and chief financial officers of York Street brands respectively.
“Bridget & I are very excited to be joining forces with the BOOST LAB team. It is very rare to find such complementary skill sets across two businesses at an executive level. We feel extremely lucky to be able to work side by side with someone like Craig who has such a wealth of experience in the industry. We feel well equipped to take on this next stage of growth for both businesses as a united team and can’t wait to see what’s to come.” Wilde said in a statement.
Alium has been Boost Lab’s biggest investor since its launch and will continue to be a key stakeholder in the new skincare conglomerate.
This news comes just weeks after cosmetics group BWX went into administration. The company currently owns the cult skincare brand Go-To which was founded by Zoë Foster Blake.
Senior Technology Journalist
A multi-award-winning journalist, Tegan has been reporting on technology, telecommunications and gaming for the past 10 years. She regularly appears on mainstream media channels as an expert tech commentator. Her previous roles include editor of Gizmodo Australia and global reviews editor at Finder. She has also served as a reporter and editor across Business Insider, Lifehacker and Kotaku Australia. Tegan was the co-host of one of the top technology podcasts in Australia, Queens of the Drone Age. You can find her on Twitter @Tegan_Writes.
