Founded only seven years ago, Frank Body pioneered the coffee scrub market in Australia, notably among Millennial and Gen Z consumers.
Over the past year, the company has reported 50 per cent year-on-year growth on home turf, but its international expansion has been phenomenal.
Over 50 per cent of total sales now come from the US, through direct-to-consumer sales and major retailers including Ulta Beauty, Target and Urban Outfitters.
Earlier this year, Frank Body entered the UK market, rolling out in 350 Boots stores.
China is the next target on the radar for co-founders Steve Rowley, Bree Johnson, Jess Hartzis and Alex Boffa.
Frank Body have finalised an investment from EverYi Capital, the Chinese private equity firm, and the agreement values the brand at AUD$100 million.
The founders will retain a controlling interest and earlier investor, Unilever Ventures, the venture capital and private equity arm of Unilever, and EverYi Capital managing partner, Susan Shui-Shien Lin, will make up the board.
EverYi Capital has invested in beauty brands before. The private equity player formerly had a stake in the best-selling Chinese nail brand, Little Ondine, before selling to the Yatsen Group, who raised US$617 million in an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in late 2020. In August last year, EverYi also secured a strategic investment in Lime Crime, the US vegan cosmetics and haircare brand.
The new investment will help Frank Body create a localised team in Shanghai, develop new market strategies for the Chinese market and deepen its partnership with Mecca, who launched a flagship store on Alibaba’s Tmall last August.
The brand will continue to be cruelty-free and production will remain in Australia and the US.