Unilever Ventures

Founded in 2002, Unilever Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in early-stage companies and funds aligned with its parent company's interests. It focuses on consumer goods, digital media, health & wellbeing, and sustainable living sectors across Europe, Asia, and North America.

Gunita Bhasin

Investor

Pawan Chaturvedi

Partner-Asia

Olivier Garel

Managing Partner and Member of Investment Committee

Rachel Harris

Partner

Isabelle Hemington

Principal

Isabelle Hemington

Principal

Andrew Lane

Co-Founder and Director

Anna Ohlsson

Partner

Devesh Papney

Principal

Clementine Provost

Investor

Priyanka Thakkar

Investor

Stephen Willson

Managing Partner

Jelena Zec

Investor

Past deals in FMCG

Arata

Series A in 2024
Arata is a New Delhi, India-based hair care brand that develops high-performance, vegan and cruelty-free products backed by plant-powered science and clinically proven technology. Its lineup includes unisex shampoos, hair gels and hair creams that are free of SLS and parabens, non-toxic and sustainable. The company emphasizes natural, skin-friendly formulations and cruelty-free production, with products designed for all users. Arata was founded in 2017 by Dhruv Madhok and Dhruv Bhasin.

STRAAND

Seed Round in 2023
STRAAND is a manufacturer specializing in retail health and personal care products, primarily focusing on hair care. The company produces prebiotic hair care products designed for scalp care, ensuring its formulations are both chemical-free and cruelty-free. STRAAND aims to improve the scalp microbiome, offering customers comprehensive hair care solutions at affordable prices.

WishCare

Series A in 2023
WishCare is a manufacturer and online retailer specializing in natural, toxin-free beauty and personal care products. The company provides a diverse selection of beauty kits and wellness items, including haircare and skincare solutions such as bond repair hair treatments, hair growth serums, face serums, sunscreens, and active-based body lotions. By focusing on sustainable and non-toxic formulations, WishCare aims to meet consumer needs while offering a unique and hassle-free shopping experience. The brand's commitment to health and sustainability enables customers to enhance their well-being and achieve a rejuvenated appearance.

STRAAND

Pre Seed Round in 2023
STRAAND is a manufacturer specializing in retail health and personal care products, primarily focusing on hair care. The company produces prebiotic hair care products designed for scalp care, ensuring its formulations are both chemical-free and cruelty-free. STRAAND aims to improve the scalp microbiome, offering customers comprehensive hair care solutions at affordable prices.

Plum

Series C in 2022
Plum is a skincare and beauty company that focuses on providing chemical-free and vegan products designed for personal wellness. The company's offerings include a range of skincare items such as night gels, face washes, moisturizing creams, and face oils. Plum emphasizes the importance of safety and environmental responsibility by ensuring its products are free from harmful chemicals, including sodium lauryl sulfate, parabens, and phytates. Additionally, Plum's haircare line is specifically formulated to be silicone-free and sulfate-free, catering to individuals with damaged hair or dandruff concerns. Overall, Plum aims to deliver effective beauty solutions that prioritize health and sustainability.

Minimalist

Series A in 2021
Minimalist is a skincare brand known for its innovative and honest approach. It offers a wide range of products targeting various skin types and concerns, with a focus on transparency in ingredients and creating clean formulations.

Grabango

Series B in 2021
Grabango develops checkout-free technology for existing brick-and-mortar stores, combining cameras, shelf sensors, and computer vision to identify items as they are picked up, count them, and add purchases to a virtual basket. Shoppers pay with a registered method on their smartphone and leave the store without waiting in line, with a receipt sent to their phone after exit. The system retrofits stores from convenience to large grocers, does not use facial recognition, and keeps data anonymized to protect privacy. Grabango was founded in 2016 and is based in Berkeley, California.

Plum

Series B in 2020
Plum is a skincare and beauty company that focuses on providing chemical-free and vegan products designed for personal wellness. The company's offerings include a range of skincare items such as night gels, face washes, moisturizing creams, and face oils. Plum emphasizes the importance of safety and environmental responsibility by ensuring its products are free from harmful chemicals, including sodium lauryl sulfate, parabens, and phytates. Additionally, Plum's haircare line is specifically formulated to be silicone-free and sulfate-free, catering to individuals with damaged hair or dandruff concerns. Overall, Plum aims to deliver effective beauty solutions that prioritize health and sustainability.

Peel-Works

Series C in 2019
Peel-Works is a technology and data analytics company focused on eCommerce solutions for corner stores. It operates Taikee, an ISO-certified B2B grocery platform that empowers traditional retailers by providing direct access to leading FMCG brands, streamlining inventory management, and ensuring next-day delivery. This enables retailers to enhance their customers' shopping experience while improving store sales and profitability.

Peel-Works

Series B in 2019
Peel-Works is a technology and data analytics company focused on eCommerce solutions for corner stores. It operates Taikee, an ISO-certified B2B grocery platform that empowers traditional retailers by providing direct access to leading FMCG brands, streamlining inventory management, and ensuring next-day delivery. This enables retailers to enhance their customers' shopping experience while improving store sales and profitability.

Frontier Markets

Seed Round in 2019
Frontier Markets is a company focused on enhancing the quality of life for rural customers in India by providing access to essential products and services. Recognizing that 551 million rural individuals lack sufficient infrastructure for economic improvement, the company utilizes a women-centric model to foster local entrepreneurship. Frontier Markets recruits and trains women, known as Saral Jeevan Sahelis, who leverage a digital platform, the Meri Saheli app, to facilitate door-to-door sales and deliveries. This approach not only empowers women but also enables them to earn a sustainable income while serving their communities. The company has successfully connected over 700,000 rural customers to more than one million quality solutions in sectors such as clean energy, agriculture, and homecare. By collaborating with fintech and FMCG companies, Frontier Markets offers additional services, including doorstep ATM access and essential goods delivery. With a strong emphasis on local distribution and technology, Frontier Markets aims to scale its operations and connect 100 million rural customers with a network of digitally proficient women entrepreneurs, effectively addressing the last-mile delivery challenge in rural India.

Scentials

Series A in 2019
Scentials is a beauty brands studio that specializes in the development of skincare and fragrance products, leveraging partnerships with prominent Indian celebrities from sports, film, and entertainment. This unique platform focuses on rapid innovation across various beauty categories, offering an extensive range of fragrances, skincare, makeup, and men's grooming items. By collaborating with well-known personalities, Scentials enhances its brand visibility and outreach through traditional and social media channels, ensuring that customers have access to authentic products at affordable prices.

Peel-Works

Series B in 2019
Peel-Works is a technology and data analytics company focused on eCommerce solutions for corner stores. It operates Taikee, an ISO-certified B2B grocery platform that empowers traditional retailers by providing direct access to leading FMCG brands, streamlining inventory management, and ensuring next-day delivery. This enables retailers to enhance their customers' shopping experience while improving store sales and profitability.

Plum

Series A in 2018
Plum is a skincare and beauty company that focuses on providing chemical-free and vegan products designed for personal wellness. The company's offerings include a range of skincare items such as night gels, face washes, moisturizing creams, and face oils. Plum emphasizes the importance of safety and environmental responsibility by ensuring its products are free from harmful chemicals, including sodium lauryl sulfate, parabens, and phytates. Additionally, Plum's haircare line is specifically formulated to be silicone-free and sulfate-free, catering to individuals with damaged hair or dandruff concerns. Overall, Plum aims to deliver effective beauty solutions that prioritize health and sustainability.

Beauty Bakerie Cosmetics Brand

Series A in 2018
Beauty Bakerie Cosmetics Brand, Inc. is a cosmetics manufacturer based in San Diego, California, founded in 2011. The company produces a diverse range of beauty products, including liquid lipsticks, lip care items, setting powders, illuminators, glitter, face oils, eyebrow gels, eyeshadows, and eyeliners. Beauty Bakerie sells its products through an online platform as well as in over 1,000 retail locations worldwide, including major retailers like ULTA, Nordstrom, and Target. The brand has gained significant recognition for its unique aesthetic and product offerings, earning accolades from prestigious publications such as Allure, Cosmopolitan, and Forbes. With a growing social media presence boasting over one million followers, Beauty Bakerie has established itself as a rapidly expanding player in the cosmetics industry. The brand is led by its founder, who is instrumental in shaping its vision and product development. As a subsidiary of Unilever N.V., Beauty Bakerie continues to innovate and engage with its customer base effectively.

TRINNY London

Venture Round in 2018
Founded by Trinny Woodall in 2017, TRINNY London is a UK-based beauty brand specializing in cream-based makeup products designed to be versatile and personalized. The company uses its proprietary Match2Me tool to analyze eye, hair, skin, color, and undertones, creating tailored product recommendations for each customer.

Peel-Works

Series B in 2017
Peel-Works is a technology and data analytics company focused on eCommerce solutions for corner stores. It operates Taikee, an ISO-certified B2B grocery platform that empowers traditional retailers by providing direct access to leading FMCG brands, streamlining inventory management, and ensuring next-day delivery. This enables retailers to enhance their customers' shopping experience while improving store sales and profitability.

Beauty Bakerie Cosmetics Brand

Seed Round in 2017
Beauty Bakerie Cosmetics Brand, Inc. is a cosmetics manufacturer based in San Diego, California, founded in 2011. The company produces a diverse range of beauty products, including liquid lipsticks, lip care items, setting powders, illuminators, glitter, face oils, eyebrow gels, eyeshadows, and eyeliners. Beauty Bakerie sells its products through an online platform as well as in over 1,000 retail locations worldwide, including major retailers like ULTA, Nordstrom, and Target. The brand has gained significant recognition for its unique aesthetic and product offerings, earning accolades from prestigious publications such as Allure, Cosmopolitan, and Forbes. With a growing social media presence boasting over one million followers, Beauty Bakerie has established itself as a rapidly expanding player in the cosmetics industry. The brand is led by its founder, who is instrumental in shaping its vision and product development. As a subsidiary of Unilever N.V., Beauty Bakerie continues to innovate and engage with its customer base effectively.

MachineVantage

Venture Round in 2017
MachineVantage is a company based in Berkeley, California, founded in 2016. It specializes in developing and applying proprietary artificial intelligence algorithms and machine learning software to assist marketing professionals, branding and advertising agencies, and product innovators. The company's technologies focus on extracting insights related to product innovations, brand semiotics, creative inspirations, and digital and retail point of sale messaging. MachineVantage serves a diverse range of industries, including packaged goods, retail, financial services, health and beauty, food and beverages, and automotive, providing valuable tools for enhancing marketing strategies and product development.

Instacart

Series C in 2015
Instacart operates a grocery delivery platform in the United States and Canada, partnering with local and national grocers to offer a broad catalog of items for home delivery. Customers can mix items from multiple stores in a single order, and orders are picked and delivered by shoppers who are typically independent contractors. The platform supports fast delivery, including options in as little as an hour. Instacart earns revenue from service fees based on order value and by selling advertising to consumer-packaged goods brands. The service catalogs about 500,000 items and attracts about 8 million monthly active users, supported by roughly 600,000 shoppers.

Hangyo

Venture Round in 2013
Hangyo Ice Creams Private Ltd. is a company based in Mangalore, India, specializing in the production of ice creams and milk products. Established in 2002, Hangyo offers a diverse range of ice cream products, including cones, candies, sundaes, and various flavored cups. In addition to ice creams, the company produces milk products such as buttermilk, curd, lassi, cold coffee, and mango lassi. Its products are distributed through retail stores across several regions, including Bengaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttar Kannada, Hubli, and Kerala, as well as through a network of dealers. Hangyo operates as a subsidiary of Srikrishna Milks Pvt. Ltd., and it also spans sectors related to fresh foods, restaurants, and hospitality.

SNOG

Venture Round in 2012
SNOG is a brand that produces frozen flavored yogurts marketed as fat-free desserts. Its yogurts are made with organic yogurt and organic milk and are sweetened with agave nectar, a natural sweetener with a low glycemic index. The products are offered with a range of toppings, including fruits, seeds, nuts, and cookies, providing variety while keeping fat content low and calories negligible. The line emphasizes beneficial probiotics and other nutritional components typical of yogurt, appealing to health-conscious consumers seeking indulgent yet lighter dessert options.

Clavis Insight

Series A in 2009
Clavis Insight is a leading provider of online store analytics, specializing in digital analytics services that help consumer goods brands optimize their presence on the digital shelf. Based in Dublin, Ireland, the company offers solutions that analyze all aspects of what consumers encounter in online retail environments. This analysis enables brands to quickly identify necessary actions to drive profitable eCommerce growth, safeguard their brand integrity, and outpace competitors in the online marketplace. Clavis Insight is utilized by many of the world's foremost Consumer Packaged Goods companies, including major names such as Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and Nestlé, to enhance their online performance and strategy.

Dreamerz Foods

Series B in 2007
Dreamerz Foods, Inc. provides various natural sleep products. It offers natural sleep beverage, a dietary supplement in the form of an all-natural, creamy, and dairy-based functional sleep beverage. The company also provides chocolate pillows, soothing dairy products, and herbal fruit-flavored mix. It offers its products through stores and online shops. Dreamerz Foods, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is based in San Francisco, California.

Attune Foods

Series B in 2007
Attune Foods, Inc. is a producer of organic snacks headquartered in San Francisco, California, with a focus on probiotic wellness products. Founded in 2006, the company offers a diverse range of wellness bars in multiple flavors, including dark chocolate, mint chocolate, blueberry vanilla, and chewy options such as chocolate peanut butter and mango peach. In addition to wellness bars, Attune Foods also provides granolas featuring chocolate or yogurt chips, muesli, cereals, and graham crackers. The company's mission is to support customers in their pursuit of healthy eating through customizable food options.

Dreamerz Foods

Series A in 2006
Dreamerz Foods, Inc. provides various natural sleep products. It offers natural sleep beverage, a dietary supplement in the form of an all-natural, creamy, and dairy-based functional sleep beverage. The company also provides chocolate pillows, soothing dairy products, and herbal fruit-flavored mix. It offers its products through stores and online shops. Dreamerz Foods, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is based in San Francisco, California.

Brand New Brands

Series A in 2005
Brand New Brands is a groundbreaking new company that brings together the entrepreneurial spirit of a start-up and the resources of an established corporation to create new foods and beverages that promote health and wellness. Brand New Brands uses a portfolio-based incubator model to develop and market the highest potential new functional food business opportunities for the U.S. marketplace. Core to their approach is the commitment to create food and beverage products that are efficacious (by medical standards), honest and transparent in their claims, and satisfying to eat or drink. By vetting and assessing the potential of scores of new product concepts, they take the most promising opportunities and fuse them with talented, passionate and proven entrepreneurial teams who turn ideas into thriving new ventures. They focus their efforts and resources by innovating “category-creating” brand platforms that are capable of crossing over from niche markets to the mainstream in three to five years. They only pursue opportunities where they can claim distinct competitive advantages over large food companies through IP, brand creation or non-traditional distribution. Their strategy is to take the most promising new nutritional technologies and deliver them to the marketplace through great-tasting products with engaging “lifestyle” brands that educate and attract loyal customers and progressive retail partners. They take opportunities to market that are likely to scale quickly due to the convergence of scientific advances, consumer readiness and media attention.
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