Katherine Power's Merit beauty brand secures $20 million investment led by L Catterton

By

Robin Driver

Published
Sep 14, 2021

Merit, the minimalist beauty brand launched by Who What Wear co-founder Katherine Power earlier this year, has announced that it has completed a $20 million Series A funding round led by L Catterton, the private equity firm backed by French luxury giant LVMH.

 
According to Merit, the new funds will be used to help accelerate its development into an omnichannel, cross-category beauty brand, a process which will include the further development of its color cosmetics collection and expansion into new product categories.
 
L Catterton vice president Courtney Nelson will also join the brand’s board of directors. Other investors that participated in the funding round included Marcy Venture Partners and Sonoma Brands.

Merit launched in January 2021, offering a “five-minute morning” color cosmetics assortment and promising a simplified approach to beauty. The label has been experiencing rapid growth ever since, as it pursues both a comprehensive direct-to-consumer strategy and aggressive retail expansion. Since its launch, the brand has been rolled out across Sephora stores in the U.S. and Canada, as well as at Sephora at Kohl's locations.
 
“At Merit, we aim to serve our consumer in many aspects of their beauty and self-care routines,” said Power in a release. “Our team is looking forward to collaborating with L Catterton and our other partners as we leverage their collective expertise scaling consumer brands to support the development of new products within and beyond clean color.”
 
Power has previous form in digitally native businesses, having previously founded online trend platform Who What Wear and skincare brand Versed, as well as natural wine label Avaline, on which she collaborated with actress Cameron Diaz.
 
As for L Catterton, the firm also has its fair share of experience in beauty and personal care. The fund’s past and current investments in the category include Tula, Il Makiage, Function of Beauty, Elemis and Jessica Alba’s The Honest Company.