Sunscreen company Vacation has completed a $6 million Series A funding round led by Silas Capital, an emerging growth equity and venture capital firm.
 
The round also included investments from True Beauty Ventures, BFG Partners, Sonoma Brands, Marla Beck (Co-Founder and former CEO of Blue Mercury), David Grutman (Founder of Groot Hospitality), Heela Yang Tsuzuki (Co-Founder and CEO of Sol de Janeiro), and others.
 
Vacation’s rapid growth can be attributed to its ability to bring a fun, unexpected new approach to the sunscreen category. Pairing skincare and sun care science with novel and innovative formats (such as a whipped cream-inspired SPF), its products regularly go viral on social media platforms, organically racking up views in the millions and leading to inventory selling out across retailers.
 
In addition to novel formats and formulas, their products also focus heavily on the sensorial experience. They are carefully designed to make users look, feel, and smell like they’ve been to paradise and back, and are coupled with an immersive brand world.
 
Vacation plans to use this infusion of capital to:
 

• Expand its distribution nationwide, entering all doors of Ulta Beauty, Nordstrom, and Anthropologie, as well as inking new partnerships with BlueMercury, CIBO, and Aerie. In addition to national retail partnerships, Vacation will deepen its commitment to local “leisure destinations” such as The Standard, Kith, Ace Hotel, Palisociety, Mondrian, Fellow Barber, C.O. Bigelow and more.


• Invest in talent. Recent hires include London Nielsen-Krupski as Senior Vice President, Sales & Commercial Strategy (previously at Bondi Sands, L’Oreal, and PepsiCo), Ryan Bukstein as Vice President of Marketing (previously at Ace Hotels), Katrina Virani as Vice President of Product Development (previously at Pacifica, The Honest Company, MAC Cosmetics and KORRES), and Hannah Kollock as Director of Growth Marketing (previously at COOLA and Milk Makeup).


• Develop even more “leisure-enhancing” sunscreen products with the help of industry leaders such as Carlos Huber of ARQUISTE Parfumeur, Rodrigo Flores-Roux of Givaudan, and Dr. Elizabeth Hale, Dermatologist and SVP of the Skin Cancer Foundation.

 
“Dakota, Lach, and Marty have built an incredible brand that is bringing fun back to the sun care category, while demonstrating the ability to break through the inefficiency of digital marketing today with innovative products and creative marketing – that’s their unfair advantage,” said Brian Thorne, Partner at Silas Capital and Head Chair of the Jimmy Buffett Excellence Committee at Vacation. “While the company is laser-focused on building a sizable business within sun care, we do believe that Vacation has the permission to extend into a wide array of adjacent categories and the opportunity to ultimately become this generation’s Margaritaville.”

Sun Care Insights

According to data provided by Fact.MR, the sun protection products market is forecasted to experience a steady rise with its overall valuation reaching $15.3 billion in 2021. Moving forward, sales are expected to surge at 6.6% CAGR through 2031.