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Harry's

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Harry's Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryConsumer packaged goods
FoundedJuly 2, 2012; 13 years ago (2012-07-02)[1]
Founders
  • Andy Katz-Mayfield
  • Jeff Raider
Headquarters
Area served
Number of employees
900+[2]
Websitewww.harrys.com Edit this at Wikidata

Harry's is an American manufacturer and seller of shaving equipment and men's personal care products via online and retail channels. They utilise a subscription service where customers receive new razor blades, shaving cream, and other grooming products by mail.

Based in New York City,[3][4][5][6][7] it was founded in 2012 by Andy Katz-Mayfield and Jeff Raider[1] and launched its subscription service a year later.[8] In 2014, Harry's purchased the Feintechnik razor factory in Germany.[9]

In May 2019, Edgewell Personal Care announced it would purchase Harry's.[10][11] In February 2020, FTC sued Edgewell to block the merger, stating that the merger could hurt competition.[12]

History

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The company was founded in July 2012 by Andy Katz-Mayfield and Jeff Raider, who met at Bain & Co.[1] It launched its direct-to-consumer subscription service in March 2013.[8]

The original products were designed by Prime Studio Inc., and the branding was developed by the creative agency Partners & Spade (now known as Mythology), who collaborated to create the company’s initial range of launch products and packaging.[13][14]

In January 2014, Harry's acquired the German razor blade manufacturer Feintechnik for $100 million,[15][9] in an effort to provide control over the entire process of manufacturing their products.[16][17]

In 2015, the company received a third-round financing of US$75.6 million.[18][19] In an interview published in July 2016, Katz-Mayfield said Harry's had two million customers.[20]

By January 2017, its shaving products were also available at Target and Walmart stores.[21] In late June, it started selling its products in the United Kingdom.[22]

In February 2018, Harry's raised $112 million in Series D funding co-led by Alliance Consumer Growth and Temasek co-led, with participation from Tao Capital Partners.[23] In October, Harry's launched Flamingo, a women's skin care brand.[24]

In May 2019, Edgewell Personal Care, the owner of the Schick brand of shaving products, announced plans to purchase Harry's for $1.4 billion.[10][11][25] The merger was intended to finalise by the end of the first quarter of 2020.[11]

On February 3, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission sued Edgewell to block the merger, stating that bringing Schick and Harry's together could hurt competition[12] and Edgewell backed away from the deal.[26]

In March 2021, Forbes reported that Harry's had raised a Series E round at a $1.7 billion valuation.[27] In December, Harry's announced it would acquire deodorant brand Lumē for an undisclosed price.[28]

By 2023 the product line generated $300 million out of a total $750 million in annual revenue for the company.[29] In 2025, a year after Reuters reported that Harry's had filed to go public in an IPO,[30] the firm unveiled its first major rebrand since launching in 2013, updating its logo, packaging, website, and visual identity.[31]

Manufacturing

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Harry's razor blades are manufactured at Feintechnik GmbH Eisfeld in Eisfeld, Germany.[9] Feintechnik was founded in 1920,[32] and was later nationalised in 1948 as VEB Feintechnik Eisfeld,[33][34] which was later privatized by German government agency Treuhand in 1990.[34] Feintechnik was acquired by Harry's in January 2014 for $100 million.[15][32] The handles of the Harry's razors are manufactured in China.[35]

Business model

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Similar to Warby Parker, which was also co-founded by Jeff Raider, Harry's began with a buy-one-donate-one business model, donating a free razor blade (or the cost of one[36]) to charitable organizations.[37] The program started in 2013 by supporting The Mission Continues to help veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan,[36] and it was called the "Give a Shave" program.[38]

By the end of 2013, the "Give a Shave" program had changed slightly such that Harry's would donate 1% of their sales and the employees would donate 1% of their time to charitable organizations like City Year.[39][4] Currently, the donation model remains 1% of sales, and employees now receive five days of paid time off to volunteer with a registered non-profit organization.[40] Various charities have received this benefit, and Harry's has recently focused on promoting better mental health care for men and suicide prevention,[40] making news for working with organizations such as Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM),[41] HEADstrong Foundation,[42] and The Trevor Project.[43]

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harry's.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Harry's Inc". Bloomberg.
  2. ^ "Exclusive: Harry's Raises A $155 Million Series E At $1.7 Billion, A Year After The FTC Blocked Its Billion-Dollar Sale To Edgewell". Forbes.
  3. ^ Koblin, John (December 3, 2014). "Investors Bet Big on Harry's, the Warby Parker of Shaving". The New York Times.
  4. ^ a b Cava, Marco della (June 10, 2014). "Change Agents: Harry's has shaving in a lather". USA Today.
  5. ^ Caminiti, Susan (May 19, 2014). "Warby Parker co-founder takes on Gillette". CNBC.
  6. ^ Empson, Rip (March 14, 2013). "Warby Parker Co-Founder Launches Harry's, Bringing The Startup's Buy-One-Donate-One Model To Shaving". TechCrunch.
  7. ^ "Our Story". Harry's.
  8. ^ a b Feloni, Richard (17 December 2015). "The CEOs of shaving startup Harry's explain how they acquired a million customers in 2 years". Business Insider. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  9. ^ a b c Michael J. de la Merced (21 January 2014). "A Start-Up Run by Friends Takes On Shaving Giants". The New York Times.
  10. ^ a b de la Merced, Michael J. (2019-05-09). "Shaving Start-Up Harry's Will Be Sold to Owner of Schick for $1.37 Billion". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  11. ^ a b c "Edgewell's deal to buy shaving startup Harry's sinks shares on debt concerns". Reuters. 2019-05-09. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  12. ^ a b Olson, Alexandra (3 February 2020). "FTC sues to block Harry's sale to Schick owner Edgewell". ABC News. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  13. ^ Lupton, Ellen (2014). Beautiful Users: designing for people (PDF). New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 62–65. ISBN 978-1-61689-291-3.
  14. ^ "Project - Harry's Branding". www.mythology.com. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  15. ^ a b Wirminghaus, Niklas (2014-01-23). "US-Startup kauft 93 Jahre alte Fabrik in Thüringen – für 100 Millionen Dollar". Business Insider (in German). Retrieved 2022-01-29.
  16. ^ Empson, Rip (January 22, 2014). "10-Month-Old Harry's Lands $122.5M, Buys 93-Year-Old Factory To Take On Shaving Heavyweights, Gillette And Schick". TechCrunch.
  17. ^ Wirminghaus, Niklas (2014-01-23). "US-Startup kauft 93 Jahre alte Fabrik für 100 Millionen Dollar". Gründerszene Magazin (in German). Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  18. ^ de la Merced, Michael J. (July 7, 2015). "Men's Shaving Start-Up Raises $75.6 Million". The New York Times.
  19. ^ Kolodny, Lora (July 7, 2015). "Harry's Picks Up $75.6M at $750M Post-Money Valuation". The Wall Street Journal.
  20. ^ Novellino, Teresa (20 July 2016). "Shaving startup Harry's sharpens it blades in razor wars". New York Business Journal. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  21. ^ "Harry's is Coming to Target! The Shave Brand's Co-CEOs and Target's John Butcher Talk Shop". Target Corporate. August 10, 2016. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  22. ^ Williams-Grut, Oscar (28 June 2017). "Hipster New York shaving brand Harry's is launching in the UK". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  23. ^ de la Merced, Michael J. (2018-02-15). "Harry's Raises $112 Million to Move Beyond Shaving". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  24. ^ King, Rachel (16 October 2018). "Harry's Labs Launches Flamingo, a New Brand Specifically for Women's Hair Care and Grooming". Fortune. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  25. ^ Primach, Dan (9 May 2019). "Schick razors' maker expands empire after buying startup Harry's". Axios. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  26. ^ Weinman, Aaron (February 11, 2020). "Edgewell's scuppered Harry's tie-up trims investors' yield hopes". Reuters.
  27. ^ Bertoni, Steven. "Exclusive: Harry's Raises A $155 Million Series E At $1.7 Billion, A Year After The FTC Blocked Its Billion-Dollar Sale To Edgewell". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  28. ^ Hall, Christine (2021-12-13). "Brand incubator Harry's Labs makes acquisition of D2C deodorant brand Lumē". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  29. ^ Chin, Kimberly (Dec 8, 2023). "Harry's building CPG powerhouse with buys".
  30. ^ Summerville, Abigail; Wang, Echo. "Razor maker Harry's files for IPO, sources say". Reuters.
  31. ^ Rae, Sophie (2025-07-04). "Harry's Rebrand Lands in the UK". BeautyNewsDaily. Retrieved 2025-07-04.
  32. ^ a b "Harrys Acquires Feintechnik GmbH Eisfeld | William Blair". www.williamblair.com. 2014-01-30. Archived from the original on 2021-10-03. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  33. ^ "Nassrasierer-Fabrikant Feintechnik GmbH - Thüringens scharfe Seite" (in German).
  34. ^ a b RP ONLINE (2015-11-07). "Radevormwald: Auf der Rasierklinge - Film über die Geschichte von Hanns Neumaier" (in German).
  35. ^ "Twitter "handles are made in China"".
  36. ^ a b Karol, Gabrielle (May 23, 2013). "A High-Tech Razor Purchase Supporting Veterans". Fox Business.
  37. ^ Campbell-Dollaghan, Kelsey (March 20, 2013). "Can The Warby Parker Model Reinvent Shaving, Too?". Fast Company.
  38. ^ Poh, Jonathan (March 14, 2013). "We Give a Shave: An Interview with the Founders of Harry's". HYPEBEAST.
  39. ^ Kasperkevic, Jana (15 December 2013). "Warby Parker and Harry's co-founder: 'I give a shave about the community'". The Guardian.
  40. ^ a b "Our Giving Goal". Harry's. Archived from the original on 2019-12-03. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  41. ^ Barr, Sabrina (26 March 2018). "Harrowing sculptures appear on top of ITV buildings to raise awareness around male suicide". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-09. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  42. ^ Mahoney, Sarah (November 8, 2018). "For Veteran's Day, Harry's Extends Mental Health Conversation To PTSD". Marketing Daily. MediaPost Communications.
  43. ^ Avery, Daniel (June 3, 2019). "These 50+ Brands are Celebrating Pride by Giving Back to the LGBT Community". Newsweek.
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