Tengram Capital Partners has acquired Los Angeles-based Lime Crime, an online beauty retailer. No financial terms were disclosed. In addition to the funding, Lime Crime has appointed Stacy Panagakis as CEO. Panagakis is the former general manager of Fresh.
PRESS RELEASE
LOS ANGELES, June 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Lime Crime, the trendsetting makeup brand known for its vibrant, cruelty-free and vegan products, announced today it has been acquired by Tengram Capital Partners, a leading private equity firm that focuses exclusively on branded consumer and retail companies. Stacy Panagakis, formerly General Manager of Fresh, also joins as Chief Executive Officer.
Founded by entrepreneurs Doe Deere and Mark Dumbelton in 2008, Lime Crime is a pioneering, digitally native beauty brand and a cult favorite among fashion-forward beauty aficionados. Through continuous creativity and innovation, Lime Crime stands apart by creating a magical world where beauty is redefined, and unabashed self-expression is encouraged. For years, Lime Crime has set trends that have taken the beauty industry by storm — from its Unicorn Lipsticks in a rainbow of shades and Velvetines (starting the ultra-matte liquid lip craze), to its best-selling Diamond Crushers lip toppers and most recently, Unicorn Hair (with the name that says it all). The brand today has become an international phenomenon, with customers from Los Angeles to Singapore to London. Lime Crime is in high demand at leading retailers including Bloomingdales, Riley Rose and Ulta.com, where it ranks as a leading color cosmetics brand, and has recently launched in the UK, originally online with Cult Beauty, and recently with FeelUnique and Selfridges.
The Tengram acquisition will support Lime Crime’s growth strategy, creating more ways for its passionate consumer base to experience the brand’s unique products and signature whimsical universe. A digital-first company, Lime Crime will continue to focus on its flagship Limecrime.com, while also pursuing select retail partnerships to make its beloved products available to more unicorns, wherever they shop. After listening to its consumers, the brand is creating a broader selection of products, introducing new categories and bringing its innovative formulations to further enchant the Lime Crime global community.
Richard Gersten, Partner at Tengram, stated, “Lime Crime is truly unique among beauty brands, with a powerful following and a deep understanding of its consumers and their expressive approach to cosmetics. We have tremendous appreciation for what Doe, Sasha Valentine and the team have built over the past ten years: a revolutionary brand that empowers consumers to express themselves and inspires them to push past the traditional limits of beauty. In an era of beauty brand proliferation, Lime Crime’s authenticity and innovation stands above the rest. Lime Crime is a tremendous fit in our strong portfolio of beauty brands, and we look forward to leveraging our experience to help the Lime Crime team achieve its growth prospects.”
Effective June 18, Stacy Panagakis will join Lime Crime as Chief Executive Officer, bringing invaluable industry experience and a proven track record of successfully scaling beauty brands. Most recently, Ms. Panagakis served as General Manager of Fresh, where she built the North America affiliate within the Global Fresh structure. Through cultivating and leading a high-performance team, Ms. Panagakis drove the brand’s success and maintained the leadership position at Sephora through strong retail partnerships and a clear digital strategy to drive traffic. Ms. Panagakis reimaged the direct to consumer strategy to ensure the customer was at the center of Fresh.com and within Fresh retail stores by always focusing on the synergy of an omni model. Prior to that, she held executive roles at Origins Natural Resources, Stila Cosmetics, and Clinique.
“I’m delighted to be joining the company at this pivotal moment,” said Ms. Panagakis. “Lime Crime is a millennial brand with a message that resonates with women everywhere – ‘it’s OK to be bold, experiment and have fun!’ The partnership with Tengram is an important next step in the brand’s evolution, bringing deep industry expertise and greater opportunities to offer unicorns and women everywhere the Lime Crime magical universe. As we expand the brand’s footprint and offerings, Lime Crime will continue to be a brand that stands apart, fulfilling its mission to revolutionize makeup, empower women and smash traditional boundaries.”
Lime Crime’s creative vision will continue under Ms. Panagakis, who will work alongside Chief Creative Officer Sasha Valentine, an eight-year veteran of the brand. Doe Deere, Lime Crime’s co-founder and forever muse has transitioned out of day-to-day operations and has joined the Board of Directors, where she will continue to do what she loves: explore, dream and inspire unicorns around the world.
Doe expressed her enthusiasm about the investment and growth opportunities for the business. “I founded Lime Crime on the belief that beauty is a form of freedom. We should all be allowed to express ourselves unapologetically. Over the last decade, unicorns all over the globe have taken that idea and made it their own, propelling us to where we are today. I am so proud of what we’ve built together and am confident Stacy, Sasha and the team will continue to build on this foundation to take Lime Crime to a whole new level!”
ABOUT LIME CRIME
We do beauty differently at Lime Crime. As a cult-status, digital-first makeup and hair color brand, we’re here to unleash what makes you unique. Our mission is to create innovative, trend-setting products and experiences that transport you to a magical world where you can express yourself unapologetically, experiment with every color of the rainbow and escape from looking like everyone else. Our formulas are 100% vegan, cruelty-free, high performance and high pay-off, all cutely packaged in true unicorn fashion. A digitally native brand, we have a powerful social media following of 4.4 million followers from across the globe. For more information on the brand and its products, visit www.limecrime.com
ABOUT TENGRAM CAPITAL PARTNERS
Tengram Capital Partners is a private equity firm that focuses exclusively on leading consumer and retail companies that own strong recognizable brands. The team has a diverse background of consumer investing and operating expertise that assists and guides company management to unlock the true potential of their brand. Tengram invests in both traditional “growth” and “restructuring/turnaround” situations in either the public or private sectors. Current investments for Tengram include ReVive, el cap, Algenist, Cos Bar, This Works, Differential Brands Group, Zanella, Luciano Barbera, Tommie Copper, and Sequential Brands Group. Prior investments include Active Ride Shop, NEST Fragrances, DevaCurl and Laura Geller Beauty. Additional information can be found at: www.tengramcapital.com.
