• This Week in CPG
  • Posts
  • Odyssey Scores $6M, L’Oréal Backs Chinese Beauty Brand 💰

Odyssey Scores $6M, L’Oréal Backs Chinese Beauty Brand 💰

Author

CPG WIRE
February 10, 2024

GM and Happy Saturday, folks. Here’s what we’re covering this morning:

  • Guardion Health sells Viactiv 💊

  • Cible Skin lands Verlinvest funding 💉

  • Billie expands into bodycare 😍

  • CELSIUS x Ferrari ⚡️

  • Juni launches at Sprouts 📈

Odyssey Scores $6M 🍄

Odyssey, a purveyor of mushroom-based energy & hydration beverages, raised an additional $6M in equity funding. Investors include Richard Laver, the co-founder of Kate Farms and Lucky F*ck, along with Trinity Ventures, an existing investor. Thus far Odyssey has raised a total of $14M in equity funding. 

Founded in 2020 by Scott Frohman, the Fort Lauderdale-based beverage brand is best known for its fast-growing line of clean energy drinks. 

Each can of Odyssey contains over 2700 milligrams of Lion’s Mane and Cordyceps along with varying amounts of caffeine. Odyssey Original contains 85mg of caffeine, while Odyssey 222 contains 222mg of caffeine, and Odyssey Revive, which is focused on hydration, contains zero caffeine. 

Odyssey boasts a fast-growing retail presence in a variety of channels, too. You can find the brand at CVS, H-E-B, 7-Eleven, Publix, Sprouts, Wegmans, and many other retailers. 

Odyssey is the beneficiary of great timing and even better execution. Energy drink consumption is at an all-time high — per Goldman Sachs, energy drink sales jumped 8% in Q4 — and better-for-you brands like CELSIUS are growing fast. In Q3, CELSIUS sales surged 104% to $385M. Additionally, consumer interest in anything adaptogenic — whether it be a beverage, skincare product, or protein bar — is also at an all-time high. 

In short, if Odyssey can establish itself as the adaptogenic energy drink, they stand to make a lot of money. They’ll have to move fast, though. Larger brands with more resources like Rockstar, which is owned by PepsiCo, have begun touting the benefits of adaptogens. Late last month, PepsiCo launched Rockstar Focus which features Lion’s Mane.

More on the fundraise here.

Sales tax isn’t everyone’s cup of tea 🚫

Shark Tank brand The Woobles tried managing sales tax themselves. While it was fine early on, they grew faster than ever, and soon Adrian (their co-founder) was wasting dozens of hours on spreadsheets, trying to figure out sales tax.

They tried using Avalara but it fell short as well. That’s when they switched to Numeral and haven’t looked back since.

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Guardion Health Sciences agreed to sell Viactiv, a well-known calcium & omega-3 supplements brand, to Doctor’s Best for $17.2M. Viactic revenue grew 13% year-over-year for the 9 months ending on September 30th, 2023. MarketWatch

Fundraising

  • L’Oreal has invested in luxury Chinese fragrance brand To Summer. To Summer launched in 2018 and now operates 11 high-end stores across China. L’Oreal invested in Documents, another luxury fragrance brand from China, in late 2022. Estee Lauder also backed a Chinese fragrance upstart, Melt Season, in December. WWD

  • French luxury skincare brand Cible Skin secured a significant minority investment from Verlinvest, the Belgian investment firm that’s backed Tony’s Chocolonely, Sula Vineyards, Hint, Sir Kensington’s, and many others. Cible Skin launched in 2015 and leverages the science of cell immunity to produce effective, high-quality skincare products. The company will use the funding to accelerate growth in China, Europe, and the U.S. WWD

  • Scandinavian skincare brand Mantle raised $2.58M in funding from London-based Venrex. Mantle will use the funding to support its expansion in the U.S., Germany, and the Netherlands. Venrex has backed a number of other beauty brands including Charlotte Tilbury and Vieve. Happi 

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Women’s personal care brand Billie launched a stunning 15-piece bodycare collection. The new collection features body wash, body lotion, and deodorant. Edgewell Personal Care, the owner of Schick, Banana Boat, and Jack Black, acquired Billie in 2021 for $310M. They knocked this out of the park ⬇️ Billie 

  • Hero Cosmetics launched a new daily cleansing balm called Dissolve Away. The product helps cleanse away oil, dirt, and grime. It retails for $17.99. Instagram

  • Masstige personal care brand Saltair introduced two new haircare product: a dry shampoo and a leave-in conditioner. The same incubator that developed and sold Naturium for over $300M, The Center, created Saltair. Instagram

  • Luxury goods giant Kering is expected to launch a new Bottega Veneta fragrance later this year. This move is part of Kering’s plan to bring beauty operations in-house as opposed to relying on Coty and other third parties. Business of Fashion

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • RTD collagen tea brand Pretty Tasty Tea just launched a new line of on-the-go collagen stick packs. Beautiful. Twitter

  • CELSIUS is now the official energy drink partner of Formula 1 racing team Ferrari. Now all CELSIUS needs is their own racing team like Red Bull. PR Newswire

  • ROAR Organic added a new flavor, Blackberry Lemonade, to its RTD line. They also partnered with Peloton instructor Jess Sims on a powdered hydration supplement — Cherry Limeade Plus Powder. Instagram

  • French cider brand Galipette is launching a new non-alcoholic rosé cider later this year. Love their packaging. Instagram

  • Premium mochi brand My/Mochi is expanding into an unexpected new category — frozen waffle bites. My/Mochi

Data 🖥️

  • Once Upon a Farm, the clean baby food brand founded by Jennifer Garner, exceeded $100M in annual revenue. Fortune

Distribution News 🚚