Startups Venture

Hims, Madison Reed, and Billie Each Raise More Venture Capital For Personal Care

It’s been a busy funding morning for personal care startups.

Hims, a wellness upstart focused on providing a variety of male-focused products, has raised $100 million in a round that reports (more) say could value the company at $1 billion.

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Founded in 2017, the San Francisco-based company has now raised nearly $200 million. Its last round—a $50 million Series B—closed just last June. At that time, the company’s pre-money valuation was $350 million, according to its Crunchbase profile. Its backers include Maverick Ventures, Redpoint, Founders Fund, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Thrive Capital, and Forerunner Ventures, according to Crunchbase. We have reached out to the company and will update this post with more information when we get it.

Meanwhile, San Francisco-based hair color startup Madison Reed just announced a $51 million Series D that it’s describing as a growth round. Norwest Venture Partners and True Ventures led the round, with participation from Comcast Ventures. New investor Meaningful Partners also joined in. This latest round brings its total raised since its inception in 2013 to just more than $120 million.

Madison Reed said it plans to use the money to continue to open more of its brick-and-mortar color bars. It currently operates six and plans to expand to 40 by 2020. It also plans to launch new products, break into television advertising, and invest in its exclusive partnership with retailer Ulta Beauty.

Finally, New York-based Billie, which describes itself as “the female-first shave and body brand,” announced a $25 million Series A investment led by Goldman Sachs’ private capital investing group, bringing the total funding for the company to $35 million. The round also included participation from existing investors Silverton Partners, Female Founders Fund, and Lakehouse Ventures. In a statement provided to Crunchbase News, Billie said the funding will go toward expanding its product line.

Last July, I wrote about how the hair side of the personal care sector is a growing one. But clearly, it’s not just hair that people care about. Besides hair loss products, Hims offers generic erectile-dysfunction supplements and skin care supplies, for example. And it has also launched Hers, a female-focused line that includes offerings such as a birth-control pill.

With these three rounds, the venture world writ large is continuing its bet on direct-to-consumer companies and new brands. If nothing else, the newly invested capital bodes well for the podcast industry.

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias

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