Jessica Alba's Honest Company raises $200M from a LVMH-affiliated private equity firm L Catterton for a minority stake, to help expand the business globally
- $200 million investment will help Honest boost supply chain — L Catterton focuses on consumer brands, owns Bliss, Elemis
Context & Ripple Effects
This is a reset moment for Jessica Alba's Honest Company. After the $100M raise at a $1.7B valuation in 2015 and reported IPO preparations with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in early 2016, the company filed to raise just $75M at a sub-$1B valuation last October — a 57% haircut versus Series D. The 2018 deal swaps the stalled public-market path for strategic private capital.
The investor matters as much as the check: L Catterton is affiliated with LVMH and already owns consumer brands like Bliss and Elemis, so Honest is taking on a backer with direct operating experience in beauty and personal-care supply chains.
First-order effects
- Honest gains $200M earmarked for supply-chain buildout and international expansion, with L Catterton taking a minority stake rather than control.
- The raise ends any near-term reliance on the Goldman Sachs/Morgan Stanley IPO track, giving the company runway without a public listing.
Second-order effects
- Rivals in natural household and personal-care products now compete against a company backed by LVMH's consumer portfolio, where Bliss and Elemis give L Catterton distribution and manufacturing know-how it can share with Honest.
- For other subscription e-commerce startups still holding 2015-era valuations, Honest's move from a $1.7B mark to a sub-$1B filing and then strategic money sets a reference point for accepting lower marks in exchange for operational backing.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, consumer-brand startups that missed their IPO window increasingly turn to strategic consumer-goods investors over generic venture capital, folding independent brands into luxury-group ecosystems.
- Minority-stake deals of this kind let conglomerates like LVMH extend into mass-market 'clean' consumer categories without full acquisitions — a structure regulators and later buyers will watch as these stakes mature.
The trend: Consumer startups are trading headline valuations for strategic capital from established brand groups as the IPO window narrows.