When St. Louis-based Rebundle began selling its plant-based hair extensions in 2021, the demand for the product was strong enough that it sold out.
While that high interest may have flattered some startups, Rebundle founder and CEO Ciara Imani May said it exposed cracks in her company’s operations. It left Rebundle scrambling to keep up with demand, which May said left her direct-to-consumer company trying to build the plane while flying it.
The experience led Rebundle down an unusual path for a company that’s already commercialized its products. It paused sales — for nine months.
“It was extremely daunting and a tough decision to make, but I didn’t feel like we could be successful with the way that we had started,” May said.
Rebundle spent 2022 focused on improving its product and manufacturing process, relaunching in November. Founded in 2019, Rebundle manufactures and sells plant-based braided hair extensions that are made from banana fiber, as well as non-toxic dye, grapeseed oil and aloe vera juice. It says its extensions are more environmentally conscious and skin-friendly than traditional hair extensions, with the company have recently receiving the Certified Biobased Product label from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Initially founded in Charlotte, North Carolina, Rebundle established its headquarters in St. Louis after winning a $50,000 grant from local nonprofit Arch Grants in 2020.
May said Rebundle’s pause on sales provided time to add new staff and turn its attention to improving its product and its manufacturing operations to handle a higher level of production. Rebundle in January 2022 closed on a $1.4 million pre-seed funding round, with May saying the startup used that capital to optimize its operations. She said the company has since brought on additional financing, but declined to disclose the funding amount.
“I knew if we were smart about how we used our capital that we could build not only a stronger product but a stronger company that better fit the needs of our customers,” May said.
Rebundle added to its team, which now totals eight full-time employees, as it sought to improve its product. That involved hiring a research and development manager to oversee product development and additional marketing staff.
Rebundle makes its products in St. Louis, and May said the company plans to relocate production to a facility in Maryland Heights that spans about 6,000 square feet, compared with its current footprint of roughly 1,000 square feet. She declined to disclose the address of the new facility and the timeline to move there.
While shutting down sales may be an atypical move for a startup, May didn’t think about the unique circumstances of her company. She said she had tunnel vision on ensuring her company was positioned for growth while also creating the best experience for customers when it relaunched. She said the decision to relaunch in November helped Rebundle return to sales in time for the holidays while also putting it in a position to be ready to achieve its 2023 goals. Reaching the point of relaunching sales brings “a lot of relief,” but May said there’s still plenty of hard work ahead for her company.
“There’s still a lot of metrics we have to hit and ground to cover, but I think we are headed down a path I can actually see now,” she said.
