Sun smart start-up Solbari pockets a $10m slip, slop, slap from ABGF

An investment banker who started a clothing line focused on sun protection a decade ago has received $10m to continue growing and scaling the business.

ABGF co-head of investments Ghazaleh Lyari (left) and Solbari CEO and founder Johanna Young. Picture: Supplied

A sun protective wear brand founded by a former investment banker has raised $10m to pursue a dream of tackling skin cancer with a preventive approach.

Melbourne-based Solbari has received a $10m shot in the arm from Australian Business Growth Fund, which is looking to help grow the wholesale side of the business.

Solbari, founded by Johanna Young, is a clothing brand which sells hats, shirts, gloves and surf leggings, all of which come with Ultra Protection Factor (UPF) 50+ rating, the highest possible for sun protection.

Ms Young founded the company in 2012 after 10 years as an investment banker in the UK. When she returned to Melbourne, one of the first things she noticed was how strong the sun was.

Solbari co-founder and CEO Johanna Young launched a collaboration with artificially intelligent skin-checking app SkinVision to help customers scan for skin cancers.

“It was great coming back to Australia and my husband and I were very keen to enjoy the outdoors, play golf on the weekend and go for long walks on the beach but we would burn really easily,” she said.

Around that time she had read about an increase in skin cancer diagnoses and how they were 95 per cent preventable.

“I was just flabbergasted as to why the numbers were so high. I am a solution-oriented person and I was like there’s a massive problem here and someone needs to do something about this so I just became really passionate about the subject,” she said.

One of the things which surprised her most was discovering a plain white cotton T-shirt offered the same protection as SPF 5 sunscreen. “That really shocked me because I thought that every T-shirt provided the same protection from the sun but they don’t,” she said.

From there she began volunteering at different cancer councils and after failing to find UPF 50 clothing on the market, she decided to make her own.

“That’s when I realised that there was a gap in the market and I wanted to put my hand up and start something,” she said. “I started with the long sleeve polo shirt, because that’s what my husband and I needed to play golf, and 10 years on, it’s still one of our bestsellers.”

Today the company stocks a variety of sun protective items including scarfs, sunglasses, gloves, arm sleeves, swimwear and umbrellas. Those products have been ordered from over 300,000 customers across 160 countries.

Ms Young said while the pandemic proved difficult for some, it wasn’t an issue for Solbari as it had already picked up a following from international markets and the majority of its revenue arrived from outside of Australia.

With the new funding, Solbari would look to expand into the youth clothing market and try to teach children to take better care in the sun from a young age, Ms Young said.

Solbari range of UF50 long-sleeve polo.

“Prevention is the best cure and I really hope that we can help more Australians enjoy the outdoors and the sun safely,” she said.

The start-up has grown its headcount from 10 to 25 over the past three years, with plans to hire 15 more after the new investment.

Ghazaleh Lyari, a former Wall Street banker and Silicon Valley investor, is now co-head of investment at ABGF and led the backing of Solbari.

ABGF considered Solbari to be punching well above its weight and saw a massive opportunity in the sun protective wear space, she said.

“About 60 per cent of Solbari’s sales come from overseas markets which is quite an incredibly impressive point about a business that’s not necessarily very large,” she said.

“It’s still got a lot of growth per cent potential ahead so they’re really punching above their weight in terms of establishing a globally recognised brand.”

ABGF wasn’t just impressed by the business but Ms Young, whom Ms Lyari described as a “very strong leader”.

“She’s a young leader with incredible potential ahead. I have a lot of respect for her,” Ms Lyari said. “She wasn’t just looking for capital, she was looking for expertise. She was keen to work with an investor who has gone down this road before,” she said.

ABGF would look to help Solbari grow the wholesale side of the business, Ms Lyari said. “(Our focus) is tapping into the wholesale market and developing their wholesale opportunities and channels. We’ll use all of our network and expertise to help Johanna and her team fast tracking that process.”