Wonder Curl Wins GlossWire Pitch Competition, $10,000 in Funding
Not long after being inaugurated into the 2022 cohort of the Sephora Accelerate Program, Wonder Curl has garnered yet another win.
The natural hair care brand’s founder Scarlett Rocourt has won GlossWire’s virtual GlossPitch competition, claiming the grand prize of $10,000 in funding and one-on-one mentoring sessions with the competition’s judges, who include Fairchild Media Group’s Amanda Boyle, Spotify’s Susanah Zeffiro and Mavi’s Cynthia Hollen.
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With the funds, Rocourt plans to scale up the brand’s manufacturing processes, while ensuring all product development is in line with Sephora’s clean beauty regulations. Additionally, she aims to make the switch from the current recycled plastic jars the majority of her products are packaged in, to an equally sustainable bottle format.
“The mission behind Wonder Curl is to simplify the styling process,” Rocourt told WWD. “The natural hair industry promised Black women that we would no longer need relaxers for our hair, but then we just ended up being held hostage by these long, drawn-out, way too many steps in the styling process.”
In her two-minute pitch, Rocourt recalled her experience as a young girl seeking to showcase her natural hair, but ultimately succumbing to external pressures to “fix” her curls by getting her hair relaxed, which compromised the health of her hair throughout her adolescence.
“In my senior year of college, I decided I would no longer use chemicals to straighten my hair, and embrace my natural texture,” Rocourt said in her pitch. “I had a teeny afro, and as my hair grew, the same issues that I had as a little girl came back as an adult.”
Rocourt’s own hair journey inspired her first — and hero — Wonder Curl product, the Get Set Hair Jelly, in 2010. Since then, the brand has expanded into shampoos, detangler brushes, a curl control lotion and, most recently, a candle.
Kimberly Carney, founder and chief executive officer of GlossWire, said speaking on what made Rocourt’s pitch stand out, “She really knows who she is — she’s very clear on her mission and the problem she is trying to solve. She targets a diverse consumer, and that’s also important.”
Other finalists, in no particular order, included D’Lashes, Meraki Organics, Masami, House of M Beauty, May 11, Gaea Health, Le Joyau d’Olive, Auda B and Adoratherapy.
GlossWire will host another pitch competition with a prize of $5,000 at Cosmoprof North America, from July 12 to 14 in Las Vegas, which will be open to the cosmetic and personal care brands present at the trade show.
FOR MORE FROM WWD.COM, SEE:
The 11 Best Hair Diffusers for Curly Hair, According to Experts
Addressing Racial Inequity in Beauty is a $2.6 Billion Opportunity, McKinsey Reports
Inside the Rise of the Prestige Hair Category
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