Mielle Organics, the fast-growing, innovative, and community-focused textured hair care company, will join P&G Beauty, pending regulatory approval.
Founded by wife-and-husband duo Monique and Melvin Rodriguez in 2014, they will continue to lead as CEO and COO, respectively, and will operate as an independent subsidiary of P&G Beauty.
“P&G Beauty is a best-in-class organization, and we are excited that this partnership will bring additional resources so that Mielle can continue to serve our incredible customers with rapid innovation and greater reach in the community,” Ms. Rodriguez said. “Melvin and I will continue to lead Mielle with the focus on excellence, customer commitment and integrity that have been the core of our brand since day one nearly nine years ago.”
Over the last three years, Ms. Rodriguez was able to secure funding from the New Voices Fund for Women of Color and a subsequent nine-figure investment from Berkshire Partners at a time when less than one percent of Black women secured $1 million in funding.*
In addition to the news, Berkshire Partners has announced they have sold it's stake in Mielle Organics. In March 2021, Berkshire Partners made an investment in Mielle to further support its effort to bring more healthy hair products to textured hair consumers.
“From the beginning of our partnership, we knew Mielle was an extraordinary business with incredible leaders addressing an underserved category,” said Marni F. Payne, Managing Director at Berkshire Partners. “Mielle is a high-growth brand with passionate founders, a strong consumer connection, and deep community ties that go beyond their products. We feel honored to have been a partner through this exciting chapter.”
Through it's partnership Mielle Organics was able to scale into a leading brand and increase global access to healthier hair products.
“Berkshire Partners is a fundamental part of Mielle’s success story because our values were aligned from day one,” said Mielle CEO and co-founder, Monique Rodriguez. “Their commitment to helping us realize our vision for Mielle came through both strategic and operational support. They have a deep passion for brands and a true culture of collaboration. They have been wonderful partners to grow alongside.”
Berkshire Partners is a 100% employee-owned, multi-sector specialist investor in private and public equity. The firm’s private equity team invests in well-positioned, growing companies across communications & digital infrastructure, consumer, healthcare, services & industrials, and technology.
“Through our partnership with Berkshire, Mielle was able to meaningfully scale production and infrastructure, launch new collections and categories, and expand geographic and channel distribution in under two years. We’ve grown our team, we’ve placed healthier hair products into the hands of more consumers, and we’ve continued to reinvest in our local communities through employment opportunities and by supporting other founders of color. For us, this journey started in a garage nine years ago. Today, we are thankful to all our partners for helping us get to where we are and look forward to what the future holds for Mielle,” said Mielle COO and co-founder, Melvin Rodriguez
