Ultra Violette raises $15 million to take its Aussie-born SPF skincare global

Melbourne-based SPF brand Ultra Violette is hoping to replicate its local success in the North American market and will use $15 million in new equity funding from US-based Aria Growth Partners to help it do just that.

The brand, founded by former Mecca employees Ava Chandler-Matthews and Rebecca Jefferd, has been bootstrapped since it first launched in December 2018 after the pair spent two years developing their range of SPF products.

The investment from Aria Growth Partners represents the first time the now five-year-old brand has taken on external funding and Aria is Ultra Violette’s only external investor. The New York-based private equity group focuses on consumer brands and has partnered with the likes of The INKEY List, Lesser Evil and Onda Tequila Seltzer.

Chandler-Matthews and Jeffard have retained majority ownership and operations of Ultra Violette, which they launched to fill a gap in the sunscreen market in Australia.

While younger generations have grown up with the ‘slip, slop, slap’ messaging of sun awareness campaigns, the founders identified a lack of SPF products that are specifically made to be worn with other cosmetics products.

As such, the Ultra Violette SPF-based skincare range, which now features facial care and body care products, looks and feels much more like cosmetics than traditional sunscreens.

In October 2020, when the brand had nine products in its range, and counted Adore Beauty, Sephora and The Iconic among its stockists, it had a revenue run rate for the 2020 calendar year of more than $2.5 million.

According to the company, which has since added more products to its range, it has grown by more than 100% each year since its launch.

The brand’s products, which it refers to as ‘skinscreens™’, were initially stocked on a seasonal basis, but now stockists are choosing to range them year-round.

Taking ‘skinscreens™‘ global

Ultra Violette has had particular success exporting to international markets and in September 2022, it won the Global Victoria Women’s Award for success in international business at the Governor of Victoria Export Awards.

The fresh capital injection is earmarked for further expansion into North America, starting with a launch into Sephora in Canada in March this year, as well as for building out the company’s team and product development.

“We have an aggressive expansion plan starting from 2024, which includes North America,” Chandler-Matthews told SmartCompany.

“The partnership with Aria Growth brings with it strong strategic expertise in North America, which will be incredibly helpful as we expand.”

Ultra Violette is now available in 28 international markets across Australia, Europe, the UK, Asia and the Middle East, with household names such as Harrods and Liberty London joining the brand’s list of stockists.

However, Chandler-Matthews says additional capital was needed as scaling up these international efforts “calls for additional resourcing out of our HQ in Australia in addition to the satellite offices we will need to build and grow”.

Ultra Violette has a team of 21 employees globally and will use some of the new funding to add to its headcount, says Chandler-Matthews. A bigger team based in the company’s Melbourne headquarters will support the international push, she said, and “spur an aggressive pipeline of SPF innovation”.

Five years of learning

Ultra Violette’s ultimate goal is to own the premium SPF space globally, and Chandler-Matthews says it “makes sense for an Australian brand” to take the number one spot in the category.

Already, Ultra Violette has tackled the regulatory and innovation challenges required in the SPF skincare category, says the co-founder, and one of the key lessons she and Jefferd have learnt over the past five years is the importance of investing in this aspect of the business.

It’s equally important to “really prioritise your relationship with your co-founder if you have them”, she adds, as “this is critical to success and a happy-well adjusted team”.

“Your team are everything,” she says.

“Take a long time to hire and be quick to fire — have good probation clauses in your contracts — if it’s not working out.”

Finally, Chandler-Matthews advises other founders to never forget one of the golden rules of business: “cash flow is everything”.

“Without it, you’re screwed, basically!” she says.

“Sometimes it’s better to prioritise profitability over growth at whatever cost.”