CurlMix

CurlMix is a Chicago-based hair care company that develops and manufactures clean beauty products for naturally curly and textured hair. Its catalog spans shampoos, conditioners and deep conditioners, leave-in products, flaxseed gels and sculpting jellies, mousses, scalp treatments, growth serums, and accessories such as satin bonnets, styling clips, spray bottles and travel kits, generally priced between roughly $7 for samples and $50 for accessories. Products are grouped into scented collections (for example Honey Hydration, Luscious Lotus, Brown Sugar Baby, Mint Condition and Pineapple Potion) and are positioned around specific outcomes such as frizz control, detangling slip, moisture, hold and definition for wash-and-go styling.

Alongside product sales, CurlMix operates education and community offerings, including a 21-day Masterclass with "Curl Coaches" that teaches customers wash-and-go technique, plus a paid VIP membership ("CurlMix Club") offering perks and early access. The company manufactures on the west side of Chicago and, as of 2020, reported a staff of nearly 40 people, roughly 90% of whom were Black employees from the south and west sides of the city, with entry-level roles starting at $17/hour plus health, dental, vision and 401(k) benefits. CEO and co-founder Kim Lewis has also launched a sister brand, 4C ONLY, dedicated to 4C hair, and has described plans to build additional brands addressing overlooked segments such as women over 50 and wellness.

Founding story

Kim and Tim Lewis are high school sweethearts from Chicago's Morgan Park High School who both attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After graduation Kim worked as a district manager at Aldi while Tim held jobs including tour guide at the Museum of Science and Industry and barista at Starbucks. After Tim won $100,000 as a contestant on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," the couple invested part of the winnings in a first venture — a niche social network/app offering stylist recommendations for people with natural hair — which failed to monetize. Inspired by a "Shark Tank" pitch for an organic cookie kit, they launched CurlMix in 2015 as a do-it-yourself subscription box shipping ingredients for customers to mix their own hair products. Kim founded the brand in part to know exactly what was in her hair products, after 19 years of chemically relaxing her hair.

Business model

CurlMix sells physical hair care products and accessories direct to consumer through its own e-commerce store, complemented by a monthly subscription option and a paid VIP membership tier. Subscription revenue accounted for about 20% of company revenue as of 2021. The company has emphasized DTC over mass retail, though management has discussed partnering with brick-and-mortar retailers such as Sephora, Target and Ulta as a future channel.

Revenue comes from one-off online product purchases, a monthly product subscription, and paid membership/merchandise sales. Reported unit economics as of February 2021 included a customer acquisition cost of about $17 and customer lifetime value of about $111.

Traction

By the end of 2018 CurlMix had reached $1 million in sales, up from $3,000 in monthly sales in January 2018 and $30,000 in March 2018. The company reported more than $13 million in cumulative revenue since 2015 as of 2021, a projection of $10 million for that year, and a target of $40 million by 2024. It cited a customer base of over 100,000 and, on its site, a 4.5/5 rating from more than 16,000 customers. Headcount grew from two to about 20 by early 2019 and to nearly 40 by late 2020. Crowdfunding traction included $1 million raised within four hours of launch, 8,500+ investors in the 2021 campaign, and a Wefunder record of 3,962 investor comments.

Latest developments

In 2024 BeautyMatter reported that CurlMix's most recent Wefunder campaign raised $1.5 million, with an average investment of $600–$700, bringing total crowdfunding across two campaigns to more than $6 million; CurlMix was also named to the publication's FUTURE50 2024 list. The company's storefront currently lists a broad product range plus a VIP membership and a discounted Starter Kit pre-order scheduled to ship in September 2026.