Key facts
- Richualist's Mint tool detangles, conditions, gels, and styles curly hair in one stroke.
- The Mint tool uses refillable product pods and warming technology.
- Richualist claims its product reduces hair shedding and breakage by up to 70%.
- Dawn Myers sold her home and liquidated her 401(k) to fund initial product development.
- Richualist raised approximately $1.4 million to commercialize its product.
- Richualist launched its product after Myers' cancer treatment and appearance on Shark Tank.
Dawn Myers, founder of Richualist, has developed a new hair tool called Mint, designed to simplify the routine for individuals with curly hair. Myers, who has personally experienced the time-consuming nature of styling textured hair, was inspired to create a solution after watching an episode of 'Shark Tank' about eight years ago.
Myers identified a gap in the beauty hardware market for tools specifically designed for textured hair, noting a historical context where such hair was often seen as undesirable. Her company, Richualist, offers the Mint tool, which combines detangling, conditioning, gelling, and styling into a single step. The tool utilizes refillable product pods and incorporates warming technology to gently heat products before application, aiming to reduce styling time from over an hour to approximately seven to 10 minutes.
Richualist collaborated with materials science company Dow for engineering and manufacturing guidance. Myers personally invested in the product's development, selling her home and liquidating her 401(k), eventually raising about $1.4 million to commercialize Mint. The product's development took approximately five years.
In 2022, Myers was diagnosed with stage three colorectal cancer, and the company closed its funding round while she was undergoing treatment. She later appeared on 'Shark Tank' in 2023, securing investment from Mark Cuban and Emma Grede, which helped facilitate the product's launch. Mint has since expanded to Ulta's online website.
Richualist was also recognized as one of TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield 200 startups, earning a spot at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference.