Burst Oral Care Secures Over $20 Million in Seed Funding to Accelerate Sonic Toothbrush Development and Market Expansion

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned from foreign media that on October 28, 2019, local time, Burst Oral Care (Burst), an oral care company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, announced that it had secured over $20 million in seed funding. The round was led by Volition Capital.

The proceeds from this round of financing will be used to accelerate the development and market penetration of BURST products.

Burst, co-founded by Hamish Khayat and Brittany Stewart in 2017, is a subscription-based oral care company. BURST Oral Care has developed a professional-grade sonic toothbrush and introduced a new business model to the market.

BURST’s professional-grade sonic toothbrush is available for purchase online at $69.99, or through dental professionals at $39.99. Upon enrollment, customers receive a new brush head every three months for $6.

Hamish Khayat, co-founder of BURST, believes that many professional-grade electric toothbrushes are expensive; for instance, Philips Sonicare toothbrushes cost around $100, with some models exceeding $200. The initial price point is crucial for businesses. Therefore, BURST aims to collaborate with dental professionals to sell sonic toothbrushes directly, eliminating intermediaries such as retail stores and logistics providers that can drive up prices.

Burst’s distribution model relies heavily on dental hygienists serving as sales representatives. In an interview, Khayat stated, “This does not mean that Burst is a direct-selling company; dental hygienists are not required to purchase my products. They only need to register with Burst and pay a one-time fee of $20 to recommend Burst’s sonic toothbrushes to patients. Patients receive discounted prices by using the referral codes provided by dental hygienists, who in turn earn commissions on product sales. They can track the redemption of referral codes through iOS or Android applications.”

To date, BURST has 1,000 registered dentists and dental hygienists, as well as 10,000 subscribers.

Burst is currently collaborating with Chrissy Teigen to prepare for a product category expansion in November 2019, as well as a global expansion (including availability in the UK) by spring 2020. Burst also plans to further expand its sales channels through the Amazon platform and grow its community membership to 20,000.

Volition Capital, established in 2010, is a growth equity firm headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, primarily investing in sectors such as software, internet, and information services. The firm manages approximately $400 million in assets and has invested in 26 companies to date.

(Compiled by: He Li)