Company also announces Bevel products will be available at Target in early 2016
PALO ALTO, CA September 28, 2015 Walker & Company Brands, the company that makes health and beauty simple for people of color by developing products and services tailored to their unique needs, today announced it has raised $24 million in a Series B round of funding led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP). Also participating in the round are Andreessen Horowitz, Upfront Ventures, Daher Capital, Collaborative Fund, Google Ventures, Felicis Ventures, and Melo7 Tech Partners. Individual investors include Earvin Magic Johnson, John Legend, King Bach, Ron Johnson, San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York, San Francisco 49ers President Paraag Marathe, Ryan Leslie, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, Anre and Paula Williams, Charles King and John Maeda.
The company also announced today that it has signed a deal with Target Corp (NYSE:TGT) to sell its flagship product, Bevel, at select Target stores in the United States and on Target.com.
Founded in 2013, Walker & Company Brands has focused to date on its flagship brand, Bevel, the first and only shaving system designed to reduce and prevent razor bumps and irritation in men with coarse and curly hair. The latest round of funding will allow Walker & Company Brands to continue to grow by accelerating the development of new health and beauty products tailored to the unique needs of people of color, establishing new distribution channels for Bevel and reinvesting in team growth, all while retaining dedication to superior customer service.
Walker & Company Brands was created to make health and beauty simple for people of color. I'm so grateful that our mission has been enthusiastically embraced by our customers who continue to drive the growth of the company with their loyalty to our flagship product, said Walker & Company Brands CEO Tristan Walker. We are excited to partner with our investors to continue delivering on this mission through the diversification of our product offerings and development of new distribution channels for Bevel.
The company also announced today that Target will exclusively offer Bevel products a la carte in select stores and on Target.com beginning in 2016. Stated Walker, We are thrilled to work with Target to bring Bevel to guests in a new way. Target understands that our brand offers high-quality, unique products while adhering to the same high standards of customer service to which we subscribe. We look forward to seeing our partnership drive increased brand awareness and sales of Bevel.
Walker & Company Brands is doing something that has not been done before addressing the overlooked and unmet health and beauty needs of consumers of color, said Somesh Dash, General Partner at IVP. With an unwavering focus on efficacious products, superior customer service and authenticity in all that the company does, Walker & Company Brands is primed to break out as a leader in the market.
Magic Johnson Enterprises and Walker & Company Brands share the same mission of making a positive impact on multicultural communities. African Americans want quality products that meet our unique needs and we over-index in spending when it comes to consumer goods, said Earvin Magic Johnson, retired NBA player and CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises. I am excited to support Tristan and his vision of creating distinct products for people of color.
About Walker & Company
Walker & Company Brands makes health and beauty simple for people of color by developing products and services tailored to the unique needs of our community. Our vision is to build the world's most consumer-centric health and beauty products company for people of color, inspiring unprecedented customer loyalty. Walker & Company's flagship brand is Bevel. The Bevel Shave System is the first and only system clinically proven to reduce and prevent razor bumps and irritation. To learn more about Walker & Company Brands, visit www.walkerandcompany.com.
About Institutional Venture Partners (IVP)
With $5.4 billion of committed capital, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) is one of the premier later-stage venture capital and growth equity firms in the United States. Founded in 1980, IVP has invested in over 300 companies and 102 have gone public. IVP is one of the top-performing firms in the industry and has a 34-year IRR of 43.2%. IVP specializes in venture growth investments, industry rollups, founder liquidity transactions and select public market investments. IVP investments include such notable companies as AppDynamics, ArcSight (HPQ), Buddy Media (CRM), ComScore (SCOR), Datalogix (ORCL), Domo, Dropbox, Dropcam (GOOG), Fleetmatics (FLTX), HomeAway (AWAY), Kayak (PCLN), LegalZoom, LifeLock (LOCK), Marketo (MKTO), MySQL (ORCL), Netflix (NFLX), Omniture (ADBE), OnDeck (ONDK), Prosper, Pure Storage, RetailMeNot (SALE), Shazam, Slack, Snapchat, SoundCloud, Supercell, Synchronoss (SNCR), The Honest Company, Twitter (TWTR), Zenefits, and Zynga (ZNGA). For more information, visit http://www.ivp.com or follow IVP on Twitter: @ivp.
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Company also announces Bevel products will be available at Target in early 2016
