Brand, an Estonian student company, won the second place at the JA Company of the Year Competition 2019 in Lille, France, where young entrepreneurs from 40 countries competed for the main title.
Brand, founded by the students of Hugo Treffner High School in Tartu, is the first Estonian company that produces and develops hair grooming products, it said in a statement. “Since October 2018, Brand has developed its own hair clay, hair wax and texture spray,” it noted. The company’s products are currently produced at the students’ high school chemistry class.
According to Brand’s founders, their goal is to make young people aware of the potential harmful effects of cheap hair grooming products to the scalp and to provide a more natural alternative at an affordable price.
“We noticed that many young people often prefer cheaper hair grooming products that can have harmful effects to natural products because of their high price,” Mihkel Mariusz Jezierski, the CEO of the company, said. “By today, we have created a natural alternative that promotes hair growth and is more affordable than competitors.”
Aiming to enter foreign markets
Today, Brand has over 500 customers and its products are available in 24 hair salons and cosmetics shops in Estonia, according to the company. It is currently raising its first investment of EUR15,000 from a cosmetics industry investor in order to increase production capacity and enter foreign markets.
Brand was founded in October 2018 by the Hugo Treffner High School students, Mihkel Mariusz Jezierski, Markus Jõeveer and Sander Aukust. In May, Brand won the Company of the Year title in Estonia.
The JA Company of the Year Competition 2019 was won by a Turkish company that produces filters for seawater purification. The top three also included Italian entrepreneurs who have created a webstore for farm animals.
The companies were judged on the basis of their business reports, stage presentations, stand exhibition round and jury interviews.
Cover: Brand’s founders accepting their award at the JA Company of the Year Competition 2019 in Lille, France.
