health and beauty

Drybar of Blowout Fame is Bought for $255 Million

Tami Abdollah

Tami Abdollah is dot.LA's senior technology reporter. She was previously a national security and cybersecurity reporter for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. She's been a reporter for the AP in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times and for L.A.'s NPR affiliate KPCC. Abdollah spent nearly a year in Iraq as a U.S. government contractor. A native Angeleno, she's traveled the world on $5 a day, taught trad climbing safety classes and is an avid mountaineer. Follow her on Twitter.

Jan 27 2020

Drybar Products LLC, was acquired last week for roughly $255 million in cash by El Paso, Texas-based Helen of Troy Limited, a designer, developer and worldwide marketer of consumer brand-name housewares, health and beauty products.

The Irvine, Calif.-based company provides hair care and styling services, among other products, at its blowout salons. Helen of Troy granted Drybar a worldwide license to use the Drybar trademark in their continued operations of salons.

Helen of Troy's CEO Julien Mininberg said in a statement that the acquisition "adds a highly-respected and fast-growing prestige brand to our beauty business" and "aligns very well with our strategic goal of investing in businesses that can accelerate profitable growth in categories where we can add value and leverage our scalable operating platform."
Mininberg also noted that she expects the Drybar salon's footprint to expand further, both in the U.S. and internationally.

Drybar did not respond to a request for comment.

__

Do you have a story that needs to be told? My DMs are open on Twitter @latams. You can also email me, or ask for my Signal.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
The Conversation

Subscribe to our newsletter to catch every headline.

l.a. venture

Vamos Ventures' Marcos Gonzalez on Investing in Latino and Under-represented Founders in LA

On this week's episode of LA Venture, hear from Marcos Gonzalez, the managing partner at Vamos Ventures, a seed-stage venture fund which invests in Latino and diverse founders. Over half of L.A. County is Latino. A relatively new fund, investments are in the range of $100,000 to $500,000. Seems like a great time to be investing in this community! And, Vamos is hiring...

Read more Show less
venture capital l.a. venture vamos ventures marcos gonzalez diversity in vc
medtech

Telehealth Provider Cloudbreak to be Acquired, Go Public via Spac

El Segundo-based telemedicine technology provider Cloudbreak Health and Florida-based UpHealth Holdings, a digital healthcare provider, announced they will combine and go public via a SPAC in a deal that values the combined companies at $1.35 billion.

Named UpHealth, Inc., the new company aims to streamline online health care by becoming a single provider of four different services: telehealth, teletherapy, a health care appointment and management system and an online pharmacy.

UpHealth runs healthcare platform Thrasys Inc. and MedQuest Pharmacy, along with two other behavioral health companies. The merger with Cloudbreak, which under the pandemic expanded their interpretation services to remote medicine, will give the new company a foothold in almost 2,000 hospitals.

"What we wanted to do was form a business that could really be a digital infrastructure for health care across the continuum of care, right from home to hospital," said Jamey Edwards, the co-founder and CEO of Cloudbreak. Under the agreement, he will become the company's chief operating officer.

GigCapital2 expects the merger transaction to close at the start of Q1 2021. UpHealth will be publicly traded under the ticker "UPH" on the New York Stock Exchange. UpHealth's integrated care management platform serves over 5 million people, and is expected to reach 40 million over the next three years, according to the company.

Jamey Edwards, Cloudbreak

Jamey Edwards, co-founder and executive director of Cloudbreak

COVID-19 caused a meteoric growth in the use of telehealth services. In February, 0.1% of Medicare primary visits were provided through telehealth. In April, that number was nearly 44%, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"Key stakeholders have seen and responded well to the benefits that telemedicine can bring, but they need a more comprehensive, integrated solution," said Al Gatmaitan, who has been named the co-chief executive officer of UpHealth. "This is what UpHealth focuses on, the adoption of digital health solutions well beyond the pandemic crisis."

The deal with the blank check company GigCapital2 gives the two digital health companies access to a wider network. UpHealth and its family of companies operate in 10 countries and their pharmacy has 13,000 e-prescribers in the U.S.


UpHealth will use the Cloudbreak platform as part of their global telehealth services to provide patients with round-the-clock care under a variety of specialties, including telepsychiatry and tele-urology. UpHealth also has contracts internationally, to provide country-wide care in India, Southeast Asia and Africa.

Edwards joined Cloudbreak in 2008 when it went from public to private. It has raised $35 million in venture funds, most recently in the first quarter of this year scoring $10 million from Columbia Partners Private Capital.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story identified Jamey Edwards as executive director of Cloudbreak, he is its CEO.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
cloudbreak spac jamey edwards uphealth telemedicine medtech
startups

Happier Camper a Hit with COVID Campers, Startup Raises $3.7M

Ryan Edwards, the co-founder of Happier Camper, said he's asked all the time if his company leans on influencer marketing to promote their vintage-style trailers beloved by millennials.

With a waitlist six months out and demand growing from hotel-weary travelers, he said it isn't a priority yet.

"We almost don't need to," said Edwards.

That's because the $25,000 to $50,000 custom trailers have been a hit with a loyal fan base, and rising demand during the pandemic has only helped. Orders for compact trailers at the lower price end, including Happier Camper's 75-square-foot camper, are growing as newbie road trippers look for COVID-safe travels.

Read more Show less
happier camper rv covid travel startups autos
RELATEDEDITOR'S PICKS

Trending

© dot.LA All rights reserved

TermsPrivacyCopyrightCookies

Follow Us: