Amity Supply Closes Fund II 💰

Author

CPG WIRE
September 30, 2023

GM and Happy Saturday, folks. Welcome back to This Week in CPG. Here’s what we’re getting into this morning:

  • Wonder buys Blue Apron 🥘

  • Lumi scores funding ♻️

  • Birkenstock x Tekla 💯

  • Madhappy flagship coming soon 🆕

  • Fenty Beauty by Rihanna @ Target 🎯

The Big Story 📰

Amity Supply, a venture firm that’s focused on early stage consumer brands, secured $25M for their second fund.

Amity Supply was founded by Jesse Derris, Lisa Frank, and Julie Halpin, who were founding partners at Derris, a brand consultancy and PR firm that helped bring iconic brands like Harry’s, Glossier, Reformation, and Warby Parker to market. Their previous client work is how they first got a taste for venture investing. In addition to cash payment for their services, Derris would often take minority equity stakes in brands like Warby Parker and Glossier, stakes that turned out to be quite valuable.

The New York-based investment firm previously raised $10M for Fund I and backed consumer brands like Baboon To The Moon, Hai, and PetPlate, as well as service providers like Adgile Media Group.

Interestingly, Amity Supply’s sole limited partner for Fund I was real estate magnate and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. It’s unclear if Stephen Ross invested in Fund II — he might’ve been busy gloating about Miami’s wildly explosive offense and 3-0 start to the season — but it’s very possible given Ross’s considerable exposure to consumer businesses. His real estate firm, Related Companies, owns Equinox and SoulCycle, and they’ve invested in restaurant concepts like Momofuku and Milk Bar.

Amity Supply typically invests $150-500K into early stage consumer brands but they don’t lead rounds. What I love about Amity is that they don’t necessarily have a rigid thesis, they just invest in brands they deem great or companies they deem promising. Thus far they’ve invested in a wide variety of categories like pet food, health & wellness, travel bags, and smart home tech.

Genuinely curious to see which companies Amity backs next.

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Wonder Group, a food startup founded by Minnesota Timberwolves co-owner Marc Lore, purchased struggling meal kit business Blue Apron for $103M. For context, when Blue Apron first went public in 2017, they were valued at a hefty $1.89B. Wonder operates a network of ten food halls across the east coast where consumers can order items from popular restaurants like Di Fara Pizza or Chai Pani which are cooked on-site. CNBC

  • Private equity firm Sycamore Partners acquired women’s apparel retailer Chico’s for nearly $1B. Chico’s currently operates around 1,200 stores across the U.S. Shareholders will receive $7.60 per share in addition to a 65%. In fiscal 2023, Chico’s generated revenue of $2.14B and EBITDA of $186M. Reuters

  • Popular skincare brand Dr. Barbara Sturm hired investment bank RBC to explore deal options. The skincare brand was founded in 2014 and is backed by the likes of Oprah and Stripes. Per WWD, annual sales are said to be around $75M. WWD

Fundraising

  • Lumi, a Los Angeles-based startup that’s combating single-use plastics by creating lightweight, disposable receptacles made of aluminum, secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Innovent Group, Hydra Group, and Responsibly Fund. Lumi’s debut product is the LumiCup which actually looks pretty sick ⬇️ Yahoo Finance

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Just as consumer brand collabs were beginning to feel tedious and overwrought…Birkenstock and Tekla had to drop an absolute beauty. The whole collection is stunning and worth a gander ⬇️ Tekla 

  • Lifestyle brand Madhappy is preparing to open a flagship store in West Hollywood. Madhappy has been very active with pop-ups in Aspen, Chicago, New York, etc., but this will be their first permanent store. Twitter

  • Coco & Eve, the Singapore-based cosmetics brand that’s inspired by Balinese beauty, launched their first-ever line of skincare products. The company launched in 2018 and expects to surpass $100M in revenue “soon.” The Industry

  • Deon Libra, the adaptogenic body care brand that’s known for their distinct packaging, launched a new exfoliating cleanser called Smoove. Gorgeous ⬇️ Deon Libra

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • Popular tortilla chip brand Zack’s Mighty launched a new line of spicy rolled tortilla chips that are basically better-for-you Takis (thank you Indie CPG for the phrase). The new line is available at Whole Foods Market and comes in two flavors: Chile Lime and Fiery Nacho. The packaging is terrific, too ⬇️ Instagram

  • SkinnyDipped dropped a fun and very unexpected collaboration with Blank Street Coffee. The product is a dark chocolate almond that’s dusted with Blank Street’s signature coffee blend. Available at all Blank Street stores and select Target locations. Instagram

  • Actor Dave Bautista has joined San Antonio-based distiller Devils Whiskey Distiller as a co-owner. The brand launched in 2017 and has expanded to 36 states and 5 countries. PR Newswire

  • Spanish design studio MABA unveiled some beautiful packaging for a new snack brand called The Sea Snack Co ⬇️ Instagram

Data 🖥️

  • Volume for beverage brand PRIME surged 416% over the four weeks ending on September 9th. Per Nielsen, PRIME sales at $539.9M over the last 52 weeks. Just an insane juggernaut of a brand. Twitter

Distribution News 🚚

  • Functional coffee brand Taika launched at 265 Whole Foods Market stores in 16 states (mostly east and west coast).

  • Fenty Beauty By Rihanna is now available at Ulta Beauty at Target.

  • Aura Collagen Tea (from GT’s Living Foods) rolled out at Whole Foods Market.