New funding for snackable skincare, eco-friendly home goods

This week, brands in haircare, cosmetics and home goods are attracting new funding. In ecommerce software, investors are backing AI-powered retail pricing and a government-focused ecommerce marketplace.

Here’s a look at the latest deals:

Ceremonia, the Latinx haircare brand founded by entrepreneur Babba Rivera, raised $10 million in a Series A investment round led by Sandbridge Capital, according to WWD. The investment will support a recent expansion into 500 Sephora stores.

EcoSoul Home, a home essentials product startup, raised $10 million. The round was led by Accel, with participation from Singh Capital Partners. EcoSoul Home offers more than 100 plastic-free and tree-free products, offer what it says is an affordable pricepoint within the 25% range of other home goods. With the funding, the company plans to continue international and category expansion.

Sourse, a snackable skincare brand, raised $2.4 million in seed funding, according to WWD. The round was backed by New Theory Ventures, H Ventures, JAWS Ventures, Satori Capital, Short List Capital, Harlo Capital and LDR Ventures, as well as model Sanne Vloet and influencer Nicole Cogan.

Dibs Beauty, a color cosmetics brand, received a growth investment from L Catterton. Founded by the team behind TULA Skincare. "DIBS is about elevating beauty essentials for consumers who range from 0 to 100 in terms of makeup knowledge. We have reached this milestone well ahead of expectations, and L Catterton has the expertise and agility to help us become the leader in multifunctional, effortless makeup,” said CEO Jeff Lee.

Henkel, the consumer goods giant, divested businesses in Russia to a consortium of investors including Augment Investments, Kismet Capital Group and Elbrus Services for about 600 million euros. It’s the latest consumer company to exit Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Luca, an AI-powered platform that helps retailers make pricing decisions, raised $2.5 million in a seed round. The financing was led by Aunkur Arya of Menlo Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Uber’s angel syndicate and strategic angels. In a blog post announcing the deal, the company said its software “constantly identifies revenue and profit headroom, makes recommendations for price adjustments and saves countless work hours along the way.”

Glass, an ecommerce marketplace for government buying, raised $3 million. Investors included New Age Capital, Newtopia VC and Alcove Capital. With a focus on supporting local businesses, Glass aims to provide space for compliant transactions between government buyers and verified vendors, without bids.

Half Helix, a digital agency, acquired the ecommerce studio Able Sense to expand offerings for DTC brands. Able Sense is a Shopify Plus partner, serving brands such as Cougar Shoes, SUNPAN and AmerCareRoyal. Going forward, the businesses will work as sister agencies, with Half Helix serving enterprise brands, and Able Sense collaborating with emerging and mid-market brands.