PARIS — Raise Investissement has entered into exclusive talks to take a minority stake in Blissim, France’s top beauty subscription business.
The specific share being discussed was not disclosed, but the groups said jointly in a statement Monday that the funds raised would be used to support Blissim’s growth, and in particular its deployment in new geographic markets.
Raise Investissement, which is the midcap branch of Groupe Raise, is speaking with Blissim shareholders about taking a minority stake alongside the company’s management, Otium Capital and Trocadero Capital Partners, which have been shareholders in the company for two years.
Raise’s entry into Blissim’s capital will be part of a new leverage buyout operation involving the existing pool of banks, including LCL, Crédit du Nord and Arkéa.
Related Articles
Blissim bills itself to be France’s leading independent online beauty seller. Quentin Reygrobellet and his partners cofounded JolieBox in 2011. It was a beauty business that traded in beauty boxes and e-commerce, and was purchased by Birchbox about one-and-a-half years after its creation.
Over six years, Reygrobellet and his team then developed Birchbox’s European activity, and in December 2019, they carved Birchbox’s French structure out from its American owners. Since then, that business has operated independently and was rebranded as Blissim in October 2020.
Today, Blissim generates about 50 million euros in yearly sales, which rise annually by about 25 percent. The business, with sales split 60 percent boxes and 40 percent e-commerce, posts double-digit profit gains.
Blissim has approximately 230,000 subscribers, who pay 13.90 euros per month, and 1.2 million clients through all its activities, which also include corners and a brand studio. The service works with more than 300 cosmetics labels, including exclusives and limited editions.
At Blissim, data is culled from clients, then analyzed. In 2020, the company launched Analytics by Blissim, a data analysis platform to examine product performance and trends for its partners.
Data is used first to send the right box to the right person (Blissim releases 50 to 100 types of boxes each month), and the right message to the right person, according to executives.
Cofounders Reygrobellet and Martin Ballas will remain Blissim’s main shareholders. Otium Capital, which supported the executives in the carve-out of the company, is also reinvesting in this financial operation.
“We are convinced that the group has incredible development potential, especially internationally,” said Mathieu Blanc, cohead of Raise Investissement, in a statement.
“This investment will help us pursue our ambition to make Blissim one of the main beauty destinations in France and Europe,” said Reygrobellet.
For more, see:
Blissim Executives Launch Beauty Story Product Lab