Jake Shane has been getting spray tans from Dolce Glow founder Isabel Alysa Vita for years. Now, he owns a piece of her business.

Shane adds another famous name to an already stacked cap table at the brand, which announced an $11 million series A led by CAVU Consumer Partners in August with participation from Sofia Richie Grainge, Olivia Culpo, Jaclyn Hill, Brianna LaPaglia, Ash Holm and others. Miley Cyrus, another longtime tanning client of Vita’s, became an investor in 2023.

While Shane, the comedian, content creator and host of the podcast “Therapuss with Jake Shane,” has had commercial partnerships with brands like Poppi and TheraBreath and serves as chief creative officer of Katjes’ business in the United States, Dolce Glow marks his first investment in a brand, according to the company. He’s expected to work with Dolce Glow on events, product launches and content, including through his podcast.

“I’ve genuinely loved every Dolce Glow product. I owe so much of my confidence and, honestly, some of my favorite red-carpet photos to her,” says Shane in a statement. “I’m so excited to now be working with the brand in this new way and hopefully bring more awareness to a line I truly love. Investing in Dolce Glow was a no-brainer for me.”

The investment was a no-brainer for Dolce Glow, too. Beyond Shane’s existing relationship with Vita and the brand, Vita points to his strong bond with his community as part of the appeal. He has 1.9 million followers on Instagram and 4.3 million on TikTok.

“People connect with him because he is authentically himself, and you can’t manufacture that kind of connection through a traditional campaign,” says Vita. “For me, the most important part is that our relationship wasn’t created because we wanted Jake Shane as an investor. The friendship was already there. His love for Dolce Glow was already there. The investment was simply a natural next step and an opportunity for him to actually have ownership in something he had already been supporting.”

Dolce Glow is among a growing group of beauty and wellness brands securing investment deals with content creators this year, with ESW Beauty tapping Katie Fang and Aliya Rachinski as investors, Cymbiotika enlisting Alix Earle and Sensori assembling a roster of more than 40 creator investors. The deals show where the power is heading in the attention economy and facilitate brands’ accumulation of cultural, not simply financial, capital.

“Creators are entrepreneurs themselves. They understand their audiences, they understand culture, and they want to have a real stake in companies they genuinely believe in.”

“The relationship between creators and brands is changing,” says Vita. “It isn’t always about a one-time brand deal or paying someone for a post anymore. Creators are entrepreneurs themselves. They understand their audiences, they understand culture, and they want to have a real stake in companies they genuinely believe in.”

Investing in Dolce Glow doesn’t come with an expectation that creators become de facto spokespeople. “I never want it to feel like, ‘I invested, so now I owe Dolce Glow five posts,’” says Vita. “They were already supporting Dolce Glow. The investment didn’t create the relationship or the support. It was an extension of something that was already there.”

Creator investors offer Dolce Glow different strengths than traditional investors. “Traditional investors can bring experience around strategy, operations, scaling and building a company,” says Vita. “Our influencer and beauty investors are incredibly close to culture and to the consumer. They understand what people are talking about, what resonates, what is happening in beauty and how consumers are discovering products.”

Plenty of people have been discovering Dolce Glow’s products. The brand became Sephora’s No. 1 self-tanning brand within six months of entering the retailer and is now sold in 392 Sephora doors as well as Nordstrom, Ulta Beauty, Revolve, Macy’s and QVC. It also has a network of roughly 200 spray-tan professionals. Retail accounts for about 60% of its sales.

Vita launched Dolce Glow’s professional products in 2017 after establishing her career as a celebrity tanning artist and expanded into consumer products in 2021. Today, the brand has roughly 20 stockkeeping units priced from $28 to $49, led by Dolce Self-Tanning Mist, Lusso Self-Tanning Mousse and Acqua Hydrating Face Mist.

Dolce Glow’s recent funding is being earmarked for inventory, retail expansion, product innovation and team growth as Vita works toward her goal of achieving $100 million-plus in sales. The brand just hired former Goop VP of wholesale sales and marketing Gina Lucania as SVP of global sales and strategic growth. Dolce Glow is currently being used by members of the “Dancing With the Stars” cast and is in Paris for Fashion Week.