Harry’s is acquiring Lume, a brand that focuses on allover bodily odor remediation.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Lume was founded by Dr. Shannon Klingman, who said she noticed patients being over-diagnosed with bacterial vaginosis when she was a resident. During a period when she was trying to get pregnant, she noticed odors on herself, and realized that it wasn’t coming from her vagina. “I realized on my body this odor was on the outside,” Klingman said.
She created something in her kitchen, and it worked, she said. “I was busy in my residency and didn’t really give it a whole lot more thought other than to say, ‘Hey, if this product can bust some myths that the vagina is to blame for odor below the belt, I’ll feel like I have just vindicated the vagina,'” she said.
Lume makes deodorant sticks, washes and bars that contain mandelic acid. They are sold on the company’s website and on Amazon.
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The company is Harry’s first acquisition.
Harry’s has incubated other brands, including women’s personal care and grooming brand Flamingo. Earlier this year, it raised a $155 million Series E round after a billion-dollar deal with Edgewell fell through, which it said was to build out a suite of consumer packaged goods companies.
Tehmina Haider, Harry’s chief growth officer, said Lume first came up in a monthly company meeting the team has about brands they’ve found and enjoyed in their everyday lives.
When it comes to acquisitions, Harry’s looks for brands that are “offering something that’s very efficient, that people really like it more, it’s filling a real white space in the market,” Haider said, adding that, so far, the business has looked at about 100 brands. “We always want to find brands where we have shared mission and values and we feel like there’s a real opportunity to impact the next stage of growth.”
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