Dive Brief:
- Beauty for All Industries, the parent company of Ipsy, BoxyCharm and others, raised $96 million from TPG Growth to accelerate its expansion.
- The funding will be used to develop BFA's technology, increase its physical retail presence and expand its DTC brands into new global markets, according to a company press release.
- BFA says it houses "the largest digitally native, vertically integrated beauty innovation platform in the world," and is able to capture all aspects of a customer's journey, from discovery and trial to purchase and feedback.
Dive Insight:
Beauty for All Industries is in the midst of an extensive expansion. The company, which originally housed just beauty subscription business Ipsy, has added five additional businesses to its portfolio over the past 18 months alone.
Ipsy acquired beauty subscription company BoxyCharm in October of 2020, officially forming Beauty for All Industries. In January last year, the company launched a skincare brand called Refreshments to capitalize on the booming popularity of the space, but that's just one of four brands the company has debuted in that time frame. Through its brand incubator Madeby Collective, BFA has also launched DTC brands from celebrities such as Addison Rae and Becky G, along with Complex Culture, which it defines as a brand for "time-pressed millennial women."
Treslúce Beauty is Becky G's brand, and is focused on Latinx consumers. Rae's brand, Item Beauty, is positioned toward Gen Z and emphasizes "embracing your contradictions and amplifying your natural beauty, not covering it." Products are cruelty-free, vegan "friendly," and are made with dermatologist-tested formulas and science-backed ingredients.
"TPG's additional investment will allow us to build on the incredible momentum we have experienced over the past year as we integrated BoxyCharm into our portfolio, significantly grew our Refreshments brand, and launched our physical retail presence in Sephora stores with Madeby Collective," Marcelo Camberos, co-founder and CEO of BFA Industries, said in a statement. "Our next chapter will be focused on enhancing our technology and distribution offerings to bring even more personalized experiences to consumers, wherever they are, whether that is online, on their phone, or in stores."
Currently, BFA uses product reviews and other data from customers to create personalized algorithms for subscribers to its beauty boxes. That data also informs what brands and products the company itself launches.
The subscription model surged in popularity a few years ago, but since then some of the top retailers that relied on subscription services have struggled to grow and have looked for ways to expand their businesses outside of box models. Just this past fall, Birchbox — which itself operates a beauty subscription box and has launched its own private label brands to offer customers — sold itself to healthcare firm FemTec with plans to reposition itself around wellness.
