New CPG Brand Accelerator Launches 📚

GM and Happy Tuesday, folks. Yesterday was a rather slow news day due to Yom Kippur but we still have a few interesting items to dive into. Here’s a preview:

• Home Grown launches 📚

• Coty files for dual listing 💰

• L’Oreal backs Chinese biotech firm 🧪

• Casa Lumbre unveils new liqueur 🥃

• OffCourt heads to Walmart 🎾

The Big Story 📰

Greg Vetter, the co-founder and CEO of Tessemae’s, has launched a new membership-based brand accelerator called Home Grown.

The express purpose of Home Grown is to partner with early-stage CPG entrepreneurs and provide them with guidance in critical areas like finance, forecasting, sales, marketing, and manufacturing. Tessemae’s is now the nation’s #1 organic dressing and condiment brand, so Vetter knows what it takes to enter a crowded category and build a defensible brand.

Per Vetter, “our objective, simply put, is to nurture retail viability for organizations seeking to prosper. We look forward to empowering the next generation of consumer brands and, in doing so, enable companies to lay the type of foundation needed to achieve a national presence."

Home Grown currently offers two plans. There’s the $49/month track which offers tips & tricks in newsletter format, and there’s the $350/month membership track which offers hands-on guidance.

I imagine a small corner of the internet will be upset that Home Grown is charging early-stage brands with small margins and little capital $350 per month, but in my estimation it’s better than the arbitrary equity stakes that a handful of other accelerators take.

More on the accelerator here.

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• Global beauty giant Coty has filed for a dual listing on the Paris Stock Exchange. This is in addition to their current listing on the NYSE. Coty will sell roughly 32 million shares and use the proceeds to pay down debt and make strategic investments in the biz. Financial Times

• Henstone Distillery, an award-winning craft spirits producer that’s based in the UK, sold a 50% stake to Welsh businessman Mike Harris. Henstone launched in 2017 and produces gin, vodka, whiskey, brandy, and rum. Business Leader

Fundraising

• Global beauty firm L’Oreal has invested in Chinese biotech startup Shinehigh Innovation, a producer of breakthrough beauty ingredients that are created via supramolecular chemistry. Beauty firms like L’Oreal and Estee Lauder are eager to future-proof their businesses, thus their investments in startups that are developing next gen active ingredients. Happi

• Traceless Materials, a Hamburg-based startup that has created an eco-friendly plastic alternative that “leaves no trace,” secured €36.6M in funding. Helsinki’s United Bankers and French private equity firm Swen Capital Partners co-led the round ⬇️ Tech EU 

• Amazon is reportedly close to investing in Nat Habit, an India-based Ayurvedic cosmetics brand. DealStreetAsia

A Message From Numeral

If you’re running an ecommerce business in the US, you know how frustrating and complicated it is to manage your sales tax. Your average bookkeeper wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole.

That’s where Numeral comes in. Numeral is the most comprehensive sales tax compliance solution for ecommerce brands. Brands spend less than five minutes a month thinking about sales tax once Numeral takes over.

Find out how Numeral helped DTC footwear brand Amberjack achieve 95% time savings plus zero late fees and penalties here.

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• Luxury personal care brand Necessaire will launch their latest product, The Body Peel, today. The Body Peel helps with cosmetic ailments like ingrown hairs and discoloration. Necessaire’s packaging is always understated but brilliant ⬇️ Necessaire

• Another luxury beauty brand, Westman Atelier, launched a new mascara line called Eye Want You which is available in two shades. Another stunner from Westman Atelier ⬇️ Instagram

• Aesop’s first-ever store in NYC’s Meatpacking District is absolutely beautiful. Worth a gander. Twitter

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• Better-for-you cereal brand Magic Spoon is preparing to launch a new line of snacks. Details are scarce but it looks like a BFY breakfast bar. Instagram

• Casa Lumbre, the Mexican spirits incubator behind Abasolo Mexican Whiskey, Ojo de Tigre Mezcal, Las Californias Gin, Nixta, and many others, has launched a gorgeous new orange liqueur called Alma Finca. The folks at Casa Lumbre know how to create a great-looking bottle ⬇️ The Spirits Business

• Just Ice Tea is preparing to launch 12 oz. cans in the very near future. The cans will retail for $1.99/each. BevNET 

Distribution News 🚚

• OffCourt, a personal care brand for active lifestyles, launched at 1,800 Walmart stores.

• Inclusive beauty brand Pound Cake Cosmetics will launch at Ulta Beauty next month.

• Sexual wellness brand Promescent launched nationwide at Walmart.