September saw the UK’s largest initial public offering (IPO) since 2015 when The Hut Group (THG) raised £1.88bn ($2.7bn) on its stock market debut, giving it a valuation of close to £5.4bn.
The group runs more than 150 websites, such as fitness and bodybuilding supplements site My Protein and the Look Fantastic beauty products range.
As a technology platform, THG leverages the supply chain to meet the latest fashions becoming viral on social media.
Stars on these platforms, such as the Kardashian family have reaped the rewards.
Following in the footsteps of younger sister Kylie Jenner’s $1.2bn deal, Kim Kardashian West last year sold a 20% stake in her cosmetics line, KKW Beauty, to beauty products group Coty for $200m.
Peter Harf, executive chairman at Coty, at the time said: “Kim is a true modern day global icon. She is a visionary, an entrepreneur, a mother, a philanthropist, and through social media has an unparalleled ability to connect with people around the world.
“This influence, combined with Coty’s leadership and deep expertise in prestige beauty will allow us to achieve the full potential of her brands.”
Plenty of VCs have taken note, while corporations, such as Unilever, Henkel and Evonik, have used CVC to strike deals across the value chain.
Evonik’s deals, for example, cover both the startups trying raw materials in beauty products, such as Biosynthetic Technologies, JeNaCell and NutraFerm, as well as downstream packaging and customer recommendation engines, such as Velox and MySkin.
Gesa Geissel, head of corporate venturing at Henkel Beauty Care’s, deals have included Youtiful and Purish. At the time of these 2019 deals she said: “Digital direct-to-consumer relationships are becoming increasingly important as they allow connecting with consumers to improve consumer experience and capture trends early.
On the cleaning products and hygiene, Reckitt Benckiser’s corporate venture capital unit, RB Ventures, has backed laundry and dry-cleaning startup Oxwash, while Kärcher New Venture’s deals include Skyline Robotics for high-rise buildings.
And this focus area is leading to exits. Henkel, Robert Bosch and Rocket Internet last year exited the on-demand laundry service Laundrapp in an acquisition by Inc & Co.
Corporate-backed deals in hygiene and beauty from 2011 to 2021
Data as of February 25, 2021
