Support the Evolution of Men's Shave and Skin Care

SAN FRANCISCO, April 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Face it! Men want to look good and feel good, from head to toe, and are looking for better choices for their shave and skin care. With the sales of all natural and organic personal care products expected to grow to $13B by 2019 driving the growth of the overall personal care category and a population of 101.6 million men in America between 15 – 64 shopping for new products, Thrive Natural Care is filling this demand with its new natural shave and skin care, quickly becoming the 'gotta-have' brand.  The evolution of men's shave and skin care has finally advanced from Burma-shave to Thrive's innovative botanical, antioxidant-enhanced products that restore the environment while guaranteeing consumers will look good…and feel good.  Thrive's farm to face model also appeals to women, who are buying Thrive for both the man in their life as well as for themselves.

Thrive is redefining personal care from the roots of its botanicals to its vision for a radically better consumer experience. Thrive also applies this innovation to its business growth strategy. Launching its seed fundraising campaign through the leading equity crowdfunding platform, CircleUp (www.circleup.com) noted for its selection of the most progressive and successful brands across key markets, Thrive invites key partners to contribute to its growth and join its passionate team of experienced investors and advisors.

"We have built CircleUp as a platform committed to identifying and catalyzing support for best in class brands that have demonstrated strong consumer traction, distribution, dynamic teams, and scalability," says Ryan Caldbeck, CEO of CircleUp. "As the leading online private investing marketplace, we are thrilled for Thrive's launch on CircleUp."

Excited by the opportunity to help millions of customers ditch their synthetic products, and by the challenge of bringing to life a new business model that aimed far beyond sustainability, Alex McIntosh and his team of entrepreneurs in Costa Rica and America started Thrive in 2013.  After more than fourteen months of work, Thrive partnered with Whole Foods Market and Pharmaca to launch its first line of shave and skin care products. To bring Thrive to life, Alex drew on more than 20 years of leadership in business and the environment, including senior roles with Nestle Waters North America and the Nature Conservancy. Alex is building the brand and its pioneering regenerative business model with a team of experts.  Rafael Ocampo is a world famous agricultural engineer who, together with Mario Garcia, supplies the in-depth knowledge of ethnobotany. Chemist Laura Arce Aita, a Costa Rican entrepreneur with 10+ years designing healthy skin and body care products, joined the team as the leading formulator to continually create products to satisfy the demand, from men… and women too.  

Powered by the Fierillo vine and Juanilama plant found in Costa Rica and never before used in any other skin care or shave products in the world, Thrive products are unique for harnessing the properties of these plants to repair skin, control inflammation, and treat skin abrasions with an herbal, energizing scent. Thrive's Face Wash is gentle enough to use daily, removing dirt without drying out the skin. The Energy Scrub deeply cleans to improve skin's texture and appearance using a unique blend of plants and Arabica coffee. Replacing foams and gels, the Shave Oil provides a close, smooth shave, reducing irritation and extending the life of razor blades. Thrive's Face Balm provides the final step in skin care, protecting and restoring skin with anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties. High design packaging and effective but truly natural formulas inspire people to look better and live healthier. Thrive's "beyond sustainability" vision utilizes the same two plants that are so good for the skin and at the heart of this fashion-forward brand as the catalyst for restoring the health of farmland in Costa Rica.

"Thrive's unique formulas, authentic business model, and powerful branding truly set it above the rest," said Dave Kingsbury, Vice President of Partnership and Product Development at New Hope Natural Media. "From more than 16,000 new products previewed at Natural Products Expo West 2015, Thrive was amongst the best I saw – making sustainability cool and bringing it to the mainstream in an innovative, impactful way. And consumer demand is soaring – our NEXT Trend Consumer Segmentation demonstrates the growth of the #Young4Ever segment representing members of the 'in crowd' who take more aggressive actions toward health and wellness because they want to stay feeling and looking young. This segment includes 23% of the population, is 56% male, 37% age 18 – 34, and is aggressively committed to looking and feeling good. This growing demographic is more likely to be younger, more racially diverse men who are willing to pay more to stay healthy and maintain their weight and appearance. Thrive's brand and offerings leverage these rapidly growing trends to effectively deliver what consumers want. Alex and team are clearly onto something big."

Thrive is supported by a compelling advisory team with a proven record of success in key areas of operation at market leading companies including Burt's Bees, L'Oreal, Revlon, and Kiva. Thrive's visionary brand, propelled by this team, reached 700% of its launch distribution goal, garnering the support of leading natural channel retailers including Whole Foods Market and Pharmaca. Certified Premium Bodycare by Whole Food Market, Thrive is experiencing 26% month on month growth in same store unit sales in its first year. Thrive was also a 2015 NEXTY Award Nominee, selected from thousands of companies as a leader in what's next in the natural products industry. Thrive shave and skin care is pioneering the evolved standard for superior efficacy, skin health, and safety, reinventing personal care from farm to face.

About Thrive

Thrive Natural Care, a company born in Costa Rica and raised in San Francisco founded by Alex McIntosh, creates innovative botanical shave and skin care products that enable consumers to look good…and feel good, from farm to face. McIntosh and his dynamic team of experts have established Thrive as an aspirational, fashion-forward lifestyle brand rooted in an innovative regenerative business model that improves soil fertility and biodiversity on once degraded agricultural lands to produce the unique Costa Rican medicinal plants that restore skin vitality and make Thrive's products so effective.  Thrive's line includes: Face Wash, Energy Scrub, Shave Oil, and Face Balm, all of which harness the power of medicinal plants available exclusively in Thrive's products to effectively repair skin, control inflammation, and treat skin abrasions with an energizing, herbal scent. Thrive is available in Northern California Whole Foods Markets, Pharmaca, and Merz Apothecary stores, and will be found in additional Whole Foods regions throughout Summer 2015.

To learn more about investment opportunities to support Thrive, please visit https://circleup.com/c/thrive/#overview.

For further information, media related inquiries, or to set up a meeting with Alex McIntosh, please contact Lauren Haines of Christie Communications at (805) 969-3744 or via email at [email protected].  

SOURCE Thrive