Jake Paul's W Raises $11M, Iris Ventures Backs Maurten 💰

CPG WIRE
July 23, 2024

Welcome back to This Week in CPG, folks. Here’s what we’re covering this morning:

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions

American Exchange Group purchased clean beauty brand Indie Lee for an undisclosed sum. Indie Lee launched in 2010 and retails at Blue Mercury, Credo Beauty, and Ulta Beauty. American Exchange Group owns a variety of fashion & accessories brands but has been on a beauty buying spree lately. Happi
L Catterton shelled out $1.9B to purchase a stake in Value Retail, an owner of luxury outlet malls. The deal includes interests in nine luxury retail centers outside of major European cities. Business of Fashion
Mighty Craft, a popular bev alc company in Australia, has collapsed into administration after its merger with Better Beer failed. Mighty Craft still has some valuable assets — namely their minority stake in Better Beer — so I imagine someone will save them from the abyss. Just Drinks
Krispy Kreme sold its majority stake in Insomnia Cookies to Verlinvest and Mistral Equity Partners. Krispy Kreme will retain a minority stake in the cookie seller and expects to receive $172.4M for its stake. Nation’s Restaurant News

Fundraising

W, the personal care brand co-founded by Jake Paul, Woodie Hillyard, and Geoffrey Woo, raised $11M in Series A funding and is now valued at $150M. Shrug Capital led the round. Other investors include Range Group, 305 Ventures, Quiet Capital, and others. The company is on track to exceed $50M in sales this year. WSJ
Swedish sports nutrition brand Maurten secured over $21M in fresh funding. The round was led by Iris Ventures. Gothenburg-based Maurten was founded in 2015 and differentiates via its hydrogel technology which ensures rapid absorption of active ingredients. The company does around $40M in annual revenue. Silicon Canals

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

Birkenstock opened their very first own retail store in France. The two-story space is located in the Marais district of Paris. Good-looking store. PR Newswire
Tower 28 released a new product called SOS Daily Balancing Gel Cleanser. The new product is available on their website and at Credo Beauty and Sephora. Instagram
Vegamour launched a range of haircare products to combat severe hair loss and shedding. The GRO+ Advanced System is clinically proven to reduce hair loss due to breakage from washing and combing. PR Newswire

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

Constellation Brands is building a distillery in Mexico to produce tequila for two of its brands, Casa Noble and Mi Campo. Constellation has owned Casa Noble since 2014 and Mi Campo since 2018. Just Drinks
Ready-to-eat oats brand Brekki launched two new flavors — Choco Coconut and Lemon. Haven’t tried their products yet but love the packaging. PR Newswire
It looks like TALEA Beer Co. launched a spiked lemonade called TALEA Hard Blackberry Limeade. Instagram
There’s yet another new BFY soda brand called NO CAP. The packaging is great, the flavors sound fun, and having zero caffeine is a novel differentiator. Curious how this performs in an insanely crowded BFY soda category. Twitter
Podium is getting into the snack game with a protein powered stroopwafel which contains 6g of protein. Stack3d

Great deep dive from Drew Fallon on Huel, the meal replacement brand from the UK. Huel is an efficient machine that consistently delivers top and bottom line growth. Awesome thread. Twitter