Growve Plants $175M Credit Facility To Seed, Acquire Wellness, Beauty Brands

Growve, a brand aggregator acquiring and operating wellness and beauty brands, brought in a $175 million credit facility Thursday.

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The financing was backed by a banking syndicate comprised of Truist Bank, Compeer Financial, Wells Fargo, First Horizon Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Synovus Bank, South State Bank, Atlantic Capital Bank, HSBC Bank USA and Seaside Bank and Trust. The $175 million credit facility comes on the heels of a minority investment from Palm Beach Capital. Financial terms of that deal were not disclosed.

Growve is one of 100 e-commerce aggregators and the latest to bring in a significant amount of capital as the sector continues its hot streak. Investments into these companies heated up in 2021, with the companies in this sector raising over $1 billion. This week, Perch announced a $775 million round of Series A funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and just prior to that, Heyday raised $70 million in Series B funding.

Headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, Growve was founded in 2018, and both acquires and creates brands in six verticals: dietary supplements, beauty, food, sports nutrition, pet and household wellness, and beauty products.

“While other aggregators are category agnostic, we decided to focus on wellness and beauty because we all have backgrounds and expertise in that area, and it made sense to be able to have control over regulatory and quality,” President Dave Bunch told Crunchbase News.

Unlike other aggregators, the company manufactures some of its products, including gummies under its Fruily brand, as well as powder products. In addition to operating companies on Amazon, Growve has relationships with other channels, including brick-and-mortar retailers, he said.

It also has a rolling equity program that enables founders and sellers to roll equity into their brand. Growve will take a majority position in the company, for example 55 percent, while the company founder will hold the other 45 percent and be part of the brand’s future growth.

“A lot of aggregators don’t like to do that,” Bunch said. “We thought we could grow better if we brought founders along. They are about the brand, and the founder will be able to get a higher multiple or exit being a part of us versus on their own.”

Growve intends to pour all of the new funding into acquisitions, inventory and building out infrastructure and team. It has 20 brands under its umbrella, having acquired seven in the last 12 months, and will add four more in the next 45 days, Bunch said, adding that the company will reach $250 million in revenue by the end of June and has more than 400 employees.

Illustration: Dom Guzman