Professional boxer and entrepreneur Jake Paul announced a new round of funding for his W personal care brand, which launched exclusively in Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) stores earlier this year.
What Happened: W, founded by Paul, raised $14 million in seed and Series A Funding, which comes on top of Paul's Betr sports betting company and sports media brand increasing its valuation through new investors earlier this year.
Shrug Capital led the investment round that valued the company "north of $150 million." Other co-investors in the round included Range Group, 305 Ventures, Uphonest Capital, Quiet Capital and Palm Tree Crew.
"The industry is riddled with legacy players that are taking antiquated approaches and in turn are losing market and mindshare," Shrug Capital's Managing Partner Moshe Lifschitz said.
Lifschitz said W has characteristics of becoming a next generation household brand.
Individual investors in the funding round include Celsius' CEO John Fieldly, Fanatics' CEO Michael Rubin, Lil Durk, Nick Kyrgios, Naomi Osaka, Carter Reum and Paris Hilton.
"It's incredibly important to me that W fill the void that's been apparent in the men's personal care category for decades," Paul said.
He noted that the brand has driven record sales in under a month and uses a "forward-thinking approach" with creator partnerships.
"Our funding to date reflects our investors' confidence in the immense opportunity we have to build a new type of legacy brand in unique and unexperienced ways."
Paul said he invested his own capital in the company alongside partner and co-founder Geoffrey Woo.
"We strongly believe in W's runway to achieve a massive and successful future."
Why It's Important: The W brand launched exclusively in Walmart stores last month and has broken records for the retailers' "Emerging Brand" category.
The company said it has done "seven figures in sales" since launching and is on track to hit more than $50 million in sales in its first year.
"W will use the capital to support both SKU and retailer expansion as the company continues on its mission to reinvigorate the men's personal care aisle through its better-for-you products at a great value," the company added.
Along with its investors, W has a team of co-owners that include celebrity and brand ambassadors. The company said this includes MMA champion Sean O'Malley and hip-hop megastar Rubi Rose with more to be added soon.
W CEO and co-founder Woodie Hillyard said he's excited to expand the customer touchpoints for W going forward and "breaking records" in the CPG brands category.
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