Unknown to many, most conventional deodorant products are made with aluminum. With this, she founded her own line of deodorants, Curie. She pitched her product on Shark Tank and got a deal with Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran. As of 2023, Curie is worth $6 million.
About the Founder
Sarah Moret hails from Los Angeles, California and has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Boston University. This is why, before becoming an entrepreneur, she already had some experience in business.
After college, she spent three years as a senior associate at PwC, a major accounting firm. The California resident was later hired by Formation 8 as a finance and operations manager. Then, she later worked as an investment associate for Crosscut Ventures and eventually became the Head of Strategy at the food tech startup, Ukko.
Founding the Company
Moret regularly used deodorants but switched to organic products. However, everything she used either irritated her skin or made her smell bad. As a result, Sarah was inspired to launch her own line of deodorants.
In 2017, she started testing clean skincare formulas as a side project. When Curie launched, Sarah was still working full-time. She used $12,000 in savings to get the business started in 2018.
Sarah started with deodorant sticks but later expanded her product line after getting a deal with a large fitness chain. In her first year in business, Curie made $125,000 in revenue and raised $1 million through a convertible note.
Shark Tank Appearance
Although the startup was growing rapidly, it wasn’t profitable. Sarah applied to appear on Shark Tank in 2020 but didn’t get accepted until 2022. She appeared on season 13 of the show and was seeking $300,000 for 5% equity.
As a former CPA, Sarah was spot-on with her numbers which Sharks loved. However, the Sharks got a little hesitant after she mentioned her round of funding but wowed them with her sales figures. Curie made $700,000 in 2020 and was on track to make $2 million in sales for 2021.
Mark and Barbara were initially out, but they came back in to make a joint offer of $300,000 for 14%. The entrepreneur made a counteroffer, and they shook on $300,000 for 12% equity and 2% advisory shares.
After Shark Tank
After their episode aired, the startup sold out all of its inventory in 24 hours and built up a waiting list of over 5,000 customers. They later expanded into detox masks, sanitizers, and scented candles. The company had plans to roll out more products but faced supply chain issues. Recently, they recruited a Supply Chain Operations Manager to tackle this problem.
Curie is available at Anthropologie, Nordstrom, SoulCycle, Bloomingdale’s, Amazon, and their website, CurieBod.com. They have appeared on QVC over 10 times since February 2021 as their products are a big seller on the shopping channel. QVC and TikTok are their biggest marketing channels and drove 60% of sales for 2021.
One of their bestsellers, the deodorant stick, has an average star rating of 4.1 from 466 Amazon reviews. Sarah revealed that Curie’s year-over-year growth rate is an impressive 530%. Currently, Curie is worth an estimated $6 million.
