Amid complaints from vendors and customers and bankruptcy rumors,Birchbox’s assets have been acquired from FemTec Health by Retention Brands. The healthcare start-up acquired Birchbox in a $45 million deal with plans to revitalize the business.

WHO: Founded in 2010, Birchbox redefined the way people discover and shop for beauty and grooming by pairing a monthly subscription of personalized samples with relevant content and a curated e-commerce shop.

Founded in May 2020 by Dr. Kimon Angelides and publicly launched in October 2021, FemTec Health is the leading health and beauty sciences company focused on women's health. FemTec Health's mission is to revolutionize women's healthcare by using state-of-the-art genomics, predictive intelligence, and digital technologies to create a unified, coordinated experience and provide personalized services and products that are meaningful and effective for women.

Retention Brands invests in subscription commerce and e-commerce businesses. With a proven track record in the subscription retail space. 

WHY: FemTec raised $38 million in funding at a valuation of $380 million from investors that include Longmont Capital, Hellas Med, Walgreens, Trinity, Unilever, and the Estée Lauder Companies. Early this year, as part of its strategic tightening around core healthcare businesses, FemTec Health engaged a national financial consulting firm to advise and explore possibilities for the sale of some of its non-core and underperforming assets. In an open-bid process, the company's Birchbox assets were purchased by Retention Brands through an assignment for the benefit of creditors.

DETAILS:

• FemTec Health acquired Birchbox in a $45 million deal, with co-founder and CEO Katia Beauchamp selling her remaining interest in the company. 
• According to legal correspondence obtained by Retail Dive, former Birchbox CEO and co-founder Katia Beauchamp alleges that FemTec Health and CEO Kimon Angelides have failed to pay the $2,092,000 agreed upon in a July 2021 Share Purchase Agreement.
• In 2018, Birchbox sold a majority stake to existing investor Viking for $15 million, and Walgreens took a minority stake later in that same year. The business had raised $90 million and was once valued at half a billion dollars.
• Longmont Acquisition Corporation acquired the assets of Mira AI, Liquid Grids, Nutrimedy, Awesome Woman, and AvaScience-FMTC GmbH.
• Awesome Health, Inc., whose mission is to provide exceptional care for the most underserved conditions in women's health, acquired the remaining assets from FemTec Health.