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With the rise of AI, Silicon Valley is going all in on a new generation of startups that promise to radically change how products are made and sold. This time, they’re backing founders with tech chops and are more patient in helping them grow.

Dianna Cohen and Elaine Choi have built an insider favourite haircare label with signature products like the hair towel and brush-applied dry shampoo. Armed with a new funding round, they want to bring the brand to the masses.

The US Federal Reserve’s first interest rate cut since the pandemic will make borrowing cheaper. Ideally, it will ease pressure on some brands and retailers, encourage investment and drive more spending from shoppers.

The niche brand, founded by former fashion buyer Yasmin Sewell, has closed its second round of funding with Manzanita Capital and Estée Lauder’s corporate venture capital arm also participating.

In the third and final part of this series, BoF Insights spoke with investors and brand leaders about how to secure future growth before pursuing costly expansion activities in today’s tough financing environment.

As the beauty industry has grown in value and saturation, emerging brands have often leant on outside investment to grow. But for those who don’t want – or can’t access – external funding, a more roundabout path is needed.

Today’s brands are constrained by crises across direct-to-consumer and wholesale distribution and limited external funding pools. But it is still possible to scale a small label, even in today’s tough environment. In part two of this series, BoF Insights spoke with investors and brand leaders about how to translate cultural heat into commercial success via diversification.

The recent closure of some of fashion’s buzziest brands laid bare the many hurdles facing even the most promising designers. But it is still possible to scale a small label, even in today’s tough environment. In part one of this series, BoF Insights spoke with brands and investors and drew upon its own advisory experience to outline how to translate cultural heat into commercial success.