Tatcha: Beauty brand acquired by Unilever for an estimated $500M.

Nobell Foods has raised $75 million in a Series B funding round, bringing the full total raised to a whopping $100 million for this company on a mission to produce a stretchy vegan cheese.
Founder Magi Richani and her team developed a method to recreate the genetic code of casein in soybean seeds and grow plants that have exactly the same dairy caseins found in conventional dairy.
The company is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Bill Gates-backed Breakthrough Energy Ventures, with notable support from Robert Downey Jr.’s FootPrint Coalition Venture.
Nobell will use funds from the round to expand its team and farming partnerships, scale production and bring its product to market.
Launched in 2019, The Whole Truth , making muesli, protein bars and other clean-label foods, has raised a lot more than $6 million in a string A funding round.

Early investors who are hoping they’ve cracked into a big opportunity with the young brand include EVIG Group, Stray Dog Capital, E2JDJ, Tet Ventures, Good Seed Ventures, Sustainable Food Ventures and Shio Capital.
The team at Perfeggt believes the plant-based egg market is still largely untapped and is ready because of its next move.
Many global beauty market trends are inspiring the exportation of culture-inspired brands.
For instance, Germany’s — or “G-beauty’s” — minimalist skincare approach has garnered increasing media attention and retail distribution while Ayurvedic-inspired beauty brands such as Sahajan, Aavrani, Uma Oils, and others are targeting Western shoppers.
Tatcha joins Unilever’s acquired prestige brands Murad, Dermalogica, REN Clean Skincare, Kate Somerville, Living Proof and Hourglass.
Unilever has also committed to several early-stage independent skin care and cosmetics companies recently such as True Botanicals, Dr. Roebuck’s, Nutrafol and Beauty Bakerie, in addition to brand incubation with Love Beauty and Planet that launched in 2017.

For example, earlier this season, L’Oreal announced a partnership with microbial genomics company uBiome to help expand its research into the skin microbiome.
And on the investment side, microbiome-based personalized skincare platform ELSI Skin Health just raised a seed round from Sekhmet Ventures.
Personal care and pharmaceutical companies have already been selling male-focused products such as for example razors or hair thinning prevention pills for over a century.
Now, many of today’s brands are employing direct-to-consumer distribution and refreshed packaging to attract a fresh generation of male consumers. [newline]Sephora Accelerate has been buying and supporting female founders since 2016.
L’Oreal offers a variety of internal initiatives to support its commitment to new brands and technologies, such as the Open Innovation Program, the ladies in Digital Next Generation program, and the launch of corporate capital raising fund L’Oreal BOLD.
But it’s not just standalone apps and devices — brands are building connected beauty systems to personalize skincare treatments, gather behavioral data on shoppers, and encourage loyalty within brand-powered skincare ecosystems.

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Grammy-nominated rapper Jack Harlow is along the investors who participated in the funding round, along with NBA and NFL players and others.
The company use the funds to scale its growth in both direct-to-consumer and retail channels, as well as boosting marketing efforts and bringing on more team members for sales and social media.
The product happens to be sold in Southern California, including recent roadshows in Sam’s Club.

• “Today, alternative proteins represent among our core growth platforms, and as this $10 billion global industry grows to $30 billion over the next decade, we are investing to expand our unparalleled capabilities.” Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
• Food tech behemoth Impossible Foods secured around $500 million in new funding led by existing investor Mirae Asset Global Investments with participation from other existing Impossible Foods investors.
• Other offline alternative distribution channels present new opportunities for beauty retail to flourish.

For example, Foreo’s device prices range from around $50 to just under $300 — with even more luxe options priced between $6,500 to $8,800.
Download the free report to learn about the biggest emerging trends in beauty, from virtual beauty applications to refillable packaging.
For example, given that the unit could add extra steps to users’ personal care routines, companies may struggle to ensure consistency of use, with skincare-obsessive consumers more likely to integrate devices to their regimens than more casual users.
In this report, we look at the latest innovations across every part of the beauty space, and highlight the very best industry trends to watch in 2020.

Genomatica Nabs $118m In Series C Funding Round

Retailers like Sephora and Ulta have blurred the lines between prestige and “masstige,” but a deluge of alternative retailers have already been aggressively expanding into beauty retail to profit from the sector’s high margins and low barrier to entry.
As premiumization advances in the sector, expect to see brands continue steadily to emphasize transparency and affordability through new pricing models.
Retailers are also using private labels being an affordable entry way into more premium products.
Have emerged as shoppers’ demand for cosmetics transparency reaches an all-time high.

• The acquisition was for 95.4% of the share capital and the rest of the 4.6% minority stake will remain with the existing Gosh!
• The company use the funds for marketing initiatives to aid its growing retail footprint and expansion of the company’s production facility, in addition to building the management team.
• Unilever has acquired prestige skincare company Tatcha for an estimated $500 million, in accordance with reports.

The Prince and Princess of Wales found themselves the target of several accusations, including claims that William ‘shouted and screamed’ at his younger brother during a heated meeting discussing the terms of the Sussexes’ exit from royal life.
And while Meghan was presented as warm in describing herself as a ‘hugger’, Kate was portrayed as a staid, willing captive who conformed to, in Harry’s words, the ‘mould’ of what a royal wife should be.

The company, which uses proprietary artificial intelligence technology to match animal proteins to their ideal replacements among thousands of plant-based ingredients, has four products that are offered in the U.S., Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Columbia.
Mizkan America has acquired organic barbeque sauce and broth brand Born Simple so that they can transfer to the natural foods channel.
Born Simple makes a range of barbeque sauces and broth concentrates which are sold in Whole Foods Market stores nationwide.
Through the acquisition, Mizkan says it will be targeting the millennial and Gen Z markets.

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While beauty corporates have already been partnering with the biotech industry for some time, biotech companies are increasingly catering towards cosmetics companies with new ingredient innovations.
Earlier this year, the business launched in-app checkout for shoppable posts and since that time, it has rolled out features such as for example augmented reality shopping and in-app reminders for new product drops.
Beauty brands such as for example Sunday Riley and Elemis (acquired by L’Occitane in January 2019) have inked partnerships with airlines — United Airlines and British Airways, respectively — to supply beauty kits for premium passengers.
From the rise of active beauty to companies like ClassPass expanding into on-demand beauty and wellness services, beauty and fitness are increasingly intertwined in consumers’ everyday routines.
Meanwhile beauty brands from Too Faced to Eos have partnered with Gen-Z-popular

Therefore, clean beauty is a very attractive segment for venture investment.
Today’s Helio Highlight shows us that clean beauty is poised for continued growth in the near-term.
But whether virtual try-on will dsicover greater widespread adoption in markets with fragmented tech platforms, increasingly stringent consumer privacy policies, and in cultures with more inclusive beauty ideals remains to be observed.