Dealboard: Water brands raise funding, DTC acquisitions

Welcome to Dealboard. In this weekly feature, The Current is providing a look at the mergers, acquisitions and venture capital deals making waves in ecommerce, CPG and retail.

This week brought new funding for CPG beverage brands putting a new spin on water. Plus, ecommerce roll-ups make acquisitions and received new investment

Check out all of the news:

Funding

Path water. (Courtesy photo)

Liquid Death, a canned water brand, raised $70 million in a new round of funding that valued the company at $700 million, Bloomberg reported. The round was led by Science Ventures, with participation from Live Nation Entertainment, Swedish House Mafia and comedian Whitney Cummings. The three-year-old startup built by selling canned water with standout branding and marketing, and has also added flavored beverages. It is on track for $130 million in revenue this year, Bloomberg reported. Following the funding round, it plans to expand into new beverage categories and the European market.

Path, a sustainable bottled water brand, raised $30 million in a Series A funding round. The financing was led by Altos Ventures, with participation from Blue Investment Group and Ninja. A trio of entertainment luminaries also participated: HartBeat Ventures, which is the venture fund of actor and comedian Kevin Hart, former American Idol host Ryan Seacrest and Food Network star Guy Fieri.

Caraway, a kitchenware and home goods brand, raised $35 million. The round was led by McCarthy Capital. The company manufactures non-toxic, non-stick ceramic cookware pieces, as well as bakeware and linens. The company recently launched a kettle line and smaller sizes of the cookware pieces. The funding will support its innovation pipeline, marketing and customer experience.. It is also planning to expand its retail presence, which already includes partnerships with Crate & Barrel, Amazon, Nordstrom, Zola, West Elm, Williams Sonoma and others. Founded in 2019, the brand now has more than 40 employees.

Stockly, a platform helping retailers sell out-of-stock items, raised $12 million in new funding, Techcrunch reported. Eurazeo, Daphni and undisclosed angels participated in the round. The company is building a network that allows retailers to fill an order for an out-of-stock item with an item available from another retailer. Clients include Galeries Lafayette, Jonak and Go Sport.

Flora, an ecommerce platform focused on sustainability, raised $9 million. Investors included Lux Capital, Correlation Ventures, Climate Capital and Google AdSense Gokul Rajaram. Also participating were D4 Ventures, Esas Ventures, Paragon Ventures, and the 23 Fund also participated in this round along with entrepreneurs Firat & Fatih Isbecer of Pozitron, Ramakant Sharma of Livspace, Rob Gabel of Tubular Labs, along with executives and investors from Amazon, Apple, Doordash, Goldman Sachs, Silverlake, and Softbank. Flora acquires brands based on sustainability impact and performance, then integrates them into its operating platform to grow sales and optimize operations. It is planning to launch a marketplace in the coming months.

Mergers and acquisitions

Pattern Brands has a new acquisition. (Courtesy photo)

Pattern, a family of brands focused in the home-life space, announced the acquisition of Onsen, a Utah-based towel and robe company. Onsen makes fast-drying towels in the ‘waffle-weave’ style that was popularized in Japan. Created by the founders of the agency Gin Lane, Pattern raised $25 million earlier this year with plans to acquire Shopify-based brands and scale them to reach a broader audience. The company has acquired four brands in the last 12 months.

Poshmark, the social commerce platform for secondhand goods, is set to be acquired by Naver, a South Korean internet company. The deal is valued at about $1.2 billion, which is a 15% premium on Poshmark's stock price at the close of trading on Oct. 3. Naver is a search engine and ecommerce platform that stands to gain a deeper foothold in shopping through the acquisition. It can also help Poshmark, which offers users opportunities to buy and sell fashion, home goods and beauty products, reach international markets. The companies said the acquisition will "create a global player in online fashion re-commerce by combining Poshmark’s unique discovery-based social shopping platform and deeply engaged community with Naver’s technological prowess in upleveling the ecommerce experience." The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023.

Supply, a direct-to-consumer razor brand, was acquired by Foundry Brands, according to a Twitter thread from Supply founder Patrick Coddou. Starting with a single-edge razor that the cofounders pitched on Shark Tank, the brand built a cult following and added products for shaving and skincare. Following the acquisition, the seven-year-old brand’s team will remain with the brand as it pursues a “new phase of growth,” Coddou wrote, adding, “Literally nothing is changing except that we’re going to move faster, grow quicker, and get better.”

Society Brands, an ecommerce aggregator, announced the acquisition of three brands: Supplements and vitamins brand Capsule Supplies, children’s product company Yankee Toy Box and collegiate apparel retailer Barnesmith. Launched in 2020, Society acquires brands that primarily sell on Amazon and through DTC channels. It then encourages founders to stay on as brand presidents, joining a network of entrepreneurs that share best practices.

Beauty conglomerate Shiseido said its European arm will acquireGallinée, a brand that focuses on the skin microbiome. Founded in 2014, the brand offers a range of skincare products that include a complex of prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics. Following the acquisition, Gallinée founder Marie Drago will join Shiseido’s EMEA team as the chief creative officer of the brand, delivering product innovation and support.