Gwyneth Paltrow, the founder of Goop. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Fast Company)
Goop, the health and wellness newsletter-turned-media and e-commerce company founded by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, has raised $50 million in series C funding. Investors in the round round include NEA, Lightspeed and Felix Capital; the influx of capital brings Goop’s total outside investment to $82 million, following family-and-friend funding, a $10 million series A in 2015 and a $15 million series B in 2016.
The newest investment will fund its international expansion, the company says, adding that it will specifically focus on expanding e-commerce into Europe by the end of the year, as well as host overseas events. Goop is already growing rapidly; it claims it tripled revenue year-over-year for each of the past two yearsand says it is on track to more than double revenue in 2018. This year’s growth is expected to come, in large part,from new Goop-branded product lines, including a fourth fragrance, new skincare products and a home goods line, as well as the expanding international business.
Market sources estimated Goop’s 2016 revenue at $15 to $20 million, but the company would not confirm the number.Nor would it confirm a valuation. Goop did say PitchBook’s recent estimate of $250 million was off, though the company would not comment on if it was too high or too low. The Los Angeles-based company, which is still not yet profitable, currently employs 150.
Launched in 2008 from Paltrow’s kitchen in London, Goop started out as a newsletter with the advice from Paltrow that she said she often found herself giving to her girlfriends—healthy recipes, beauty tips, shopping recommendations. While she says she never expected it to be a commercial venture, it quickly gained a cult following of readers hanging onto the new-age and clean-living doctrines of Paltrow, now CEO, and the experts she gathered. (The site also drew controversy for the expensive products it peddled and alternative suggestions like foregoing shoes as a means of curing insomnia and referring to crystals as a timeless database of knowledge.)
By 2012, Goop launched an e-commerce business selling rosewater facemasks, gauzy dresses, cookbooks from chefs of various trendy restaurant and a jade egg, which claims to increase women’s sexual energy and pleasure. Three years later, Paltrow introduced advertising to the site. Over the past three years, partnerships have been made with brands ranging from the mass-market, like Old Navy and Cadillac, to the luxury, like Cartier and Prada.
The company launched Goop-branded products in 2016. These products—which now include skincare, apparel, vitamins, fragrances, bath soaks and, soon, home goods—make up Goop’s fastest-growing revenue stream, with the company claiming that sales will shoot up 200% this year. Goop Wellness, the vitamin regimen tailored for women, hit $100,000 in sales on launch day last year, the company says.
Goop’s two other revenue streams are its content and non-Goop branded retail. Apart from the website, Goop collects advertising, partnership and consumer dollars from the podcast it launched earlier this month (the first episode, in which Paltrow interviewed Oprah hit number one on iTunes), its quarterly magazine, its multi-annual wellness summits and its book imprint. The company’s retail business has expanded from its e-commerce roots, with a permanent store in Los Angeles and a series of pop-up stores.
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Gwyneth Paltrow, the founder of Goop. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Fast Company)
Goop, the health and wellness newsletter-turned-media and e-commerce company founded by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, has raised $50 million in series C funding. Investors in the round round include NEA, Lightspeed and Felix Capital; the influx of capital brings Goop’s total outside investment to $82 million, following family-and-friend funding, a $10 million series A in 2015 and a $15 million series B in 2016.
The newest investment will fund its international expansion, the company says, adding that it will specifically focus on expanding e-commerce into Europe by the end of the year, as well as host overseas events. Goop is already growing rapidly; it claims it tripled revenue year-over-year for each of the past two yearsand says it is on track to more than double revenue in 2018. This year’s growth is expected to come, in large part,from new Goop-branded product lines, including a fourth fragrance, new skincare products and a home goods line, as well as the expanding international business.
Market sources estimated Goop’s 2016 revenue at $15 to $20 million, but the company would not confirm the number.Nor would it confirm a valuation. Goop did say PitchBook’s recent estimate of $250 million was off, though the company would not comment on if it was too high or too low. The Los Angeles-based company, which is still not yet profitable, currently employs 150.
Launched in 2008 from Paltrow’s kitchen in London, Goop started out as a newsletter with the advice from Paltrow that she said she often found herself giving to her girlfriends—healthy recipes, beauty tips, shopping recommendations. While she says she never expected it to be a commercial venture, it quickly gained a cult following of readers hanging onto the new-age and clean-living doctrines of Paltrow, now CEO, and the experts she gathered. (The site also drew controversy for the expensive products it peddled and alternative suggestions like foregoing shoes as a means of curing insomnia and referring to crystals as a timeless database of knowledge.)
By 2012, Goop launched an e-commerce business selling rosewater facemasks, gauzy dresses, cookbooks from chefs of various trendy restaurant and a jade egg, which claims to increase women’s sexual energy and pleasure. Three years later, Paltrow introduced advertising to the site. Over the past three years, partnerships have been made with brands ranging from the mass-market, like Old Navy and Cadillac, to the luxury, like Cartier and Prada.
The company launched Goop-branded products in 2016. These products—which now include skincare, apparel, vitamins, fragrances, bath soaks and, soon, home goods—make up Goop’s fastest-growing revenue stream, with the company claiming that sales will shoot up 200% this year. Goop Wellness, the vitamin regimen tailored for women, hit $100,000 in sales on launch day last year, the company says.
Goop’s two other revenue streams are its content and non-Goop branded retail. Apart from the website, Goop collects advertising, partnership and consumer dollars from the podcast it launched earlier this month (the first episode, in which Paltrow interviewed Oprah hit number one on iTunes), its quarterly magazine, its multi-annual wellness summits and its book imprint. The company’s retail business has expanded from its e-commerce roots, with a permanent store in Los Angeles and a series of pop-up stores.
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