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Sephora Reveals Incubator Cohort, Bain Buys 1440 Foods 🍫

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CPG WIRE
December 14, 2023

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

  • Fresh Vine acquired 🍷

  • UCG buys Spiritual Gangster 💰

  • Honestly Tasty raises funding 🧀

  • New from Peace Out ☮️

  • Living Things launches 🫧

Sephora Reveals Incubator Cohort 💄

Sephora, the LVMH-owned beauty retailer,  has revealed the eight BIPOC brand founders participating in its 2024 Accelerate program. 

Sephora Accelerate, which is in its ninth year, provides founders of color with mentorship, merchandising support, grants, and investor connections over a six-month period. Upon completion of the program, founders have the opportunity to launch their brands at Sephora North America. 

“This year, we received more than 800 applications – a record-setting number of applications in Accelerate program history – which we believe is a testament to the unique and differentiated curriculum we’re able to offer, plus the strength of our community,” said Kristin Odegaard, a Merchandising and Business Development executive at Sephora. 

Here are the brands who were accepted: 

ABI AMÉ - Founded by Yasmin Zeinab, ABI AMÉ is a French body care brand that utilizes skincare quality ingredients like niacinamide and oat extract to moisturize the body. They sell one product, Summer Skin, which retails for $38. 

Sienna Naturals - Founded by Hannah Diop and Issa Rae, Sienna Naturals sells clean hair & scalp care products for textured hair consumers. The products are cruelty-free and dermatologist-tested. 

indē wild - Founded by Diipa Buller-Khosla and her partner, Oleg Buller, indē wild is an Ayurvedic skincare brand that combines superfood ingredients with ancient wellness practices and modern chemistry. 

banuskin - Founded by Roz Samini and launching early next year, banuskin is a clean skincare brand intended for consumers with acne-prone skin. 

Harlem Perfume Co. - Founded by Teri Johnson, Harlem Perfume Co. is a luxury fragrance brand that’s inspired by the heart of Harlem and the soul of jazz. 

Soft Rows - Founded by Quani Burnett, Soft Rows is a haircare brand that produces high-performing and clean products for textured hair consumers. 

Katini Skin - Founded by Katini Yamaoka, Katini Skin produces high-quality facial oils that use wild harvested ingredients from across the globe. 

MAED Beauty - Founded by Denise Vasi, MAED Beauty is a beauty brand that’s focused on decadent lipsticks and various lipcare products.

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Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Bain Capital Private Equity acquired a significant stake in 1440 Foods, the owner of a number of active nutrition brands like Pure Protein, MET-Rx, Body Fortress, and Balance. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but 4×4 Capital, the firm that acquired 1440 Foods in 2021, will remain an active shareholder. Business Wire

  • Fresh Vine, a Minnesota-based seller of low-calorie and low-carb wines, was acquired by Colorado-based live entertainment company Notes Live. Fresh Vine was co-founded by celebrities Julianne Hough and Nina Dobrev, and they reported Q3 sales of $848K. It appears that Notes Live is only acquiring Fresh Vine for its listing on the NYSE, so this is essentially a reverse merger. Star Tribune

  • Unified Commerce Group (UCG), a retail platform that acquired sustainable apparel brand Frank And Oak in 2020, acquired a majority stake in Los Angeles-based athleisure brand Spiritual Gangster for an undisclosed sum. PR Newswire

  • Partners Group, the largest shareholder of luxury watch brand Breitling, has acquired Universal Genève for $68M and plans to revive the once-coveted watch brand. Hodinkee

  • The Flex Company, a seller of sustainable period care products, purchased sex education platform Allbodies Health. Beauty Independent

Fundraising

  • Honestly Tasty, a UK-based producer of plant-based cheeses, raised just over $380K in funding as it looks to scale in the UK and across Europe. Big fan of their packaging. Just Food

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Peace Out Skincare, the skincare brand that raised $20M late last year, launched a new product called Early Stage Acne Dot. It’s a beauty IMO 🔽 PR Newswire

  • Sephora plans to open its third UK store next summer. The 5,380-square-foot store will be located at Trafford Centre in Manchester. WWD

  • Madonna has partnered with serial beauty entrepreneur Jerrod Blandino, the founder of Too Faced which sold for $1.45B in 2016, to launch a new line of beauty products for her tour. PR Newswire

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • Living Things, a UK-based prebiotic soda brand, officially launched with three flavors: Raspberry & Pomegranate, Peach & Blood Orange, and Lemon & Ginger. The company says Living Things will begin rolling out across the UK in early 2024. Dig the branding 🔽 FoodBev

  • Craft brewing icon Sierra Nevada released their first-ever non-alcoholic beers. Trail Pass IPA and Trail Pass Golden will begin hitting shelves this month. Craft Beer & Brewing

  • Great profile of A Friendly Bread which makes frozen sourdough grilled cheese sandwiches. They launched before Kraft Heinz unveiled their line of frozen grilled cheese sandwiches. Love the packaging. Food Business News

  • Better-for-you beverage brand Swoon announced two key executive hires. Joining the company are Sarah Gustat who previously served as EVP of Marketing at Talking Rain Beverage Company, and Tom Kelly who held VP-level sales roles at Keurig Dr Pepper. BevNET

  • Danish spirits innovator Empirical partnered with Frito-Lay to launch a novel new product — Empirical x Doritos Nacho Cheese Spirit. The collaboration is getting Empirical a lot of press, but it doesn’t seem like an on-brand collaboration for them. Seems a little desperate IMO. Instagram

Data 🖥️

  • Iconic candy brand Nerds has gone from a $50M/yr brand in 2019 to a $500M/yr brand in 2023. Insane growth for a legacy confectionery brand. Ferrero Group purchased Nerds in 2018 when it paid $2.8B for Nestle’s U.S. candy biz. Twitter

  • Luxury fashion brand Brunello Cucinelli has revised its revenue forecast yet again and expects to finish 2023 with net sales exceeding $1.2B. Reuters

Distribution News 🚚