Fragrance subscription business Scentbird made its first acquisition, adding Drift to its portfolio.

WHO: Founded in 2016 by Ryan Baylis and Christian Thrapp, Drift aims to elevate the car air freshener experience with functional design, clean ingredients, and thoughtfully crafted scents. The business claims to have more than 60,000 subscribers who pay $8 per month for an air freshener in metal, wood, or stone with an attachable metal clip.

Scentbird is a subscription-based fragrance company launched in 2013 that upended the fragrance category, offering access to over 500 fragrances. The sampling service has expanded to include a range of namesake personal care and home fragrance products.

WHY: Scentbird was not looking for acquisitions but saw the synergies between the businesses.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: "I hate to use the phrase 'makes sense,' because it's such a cliché for both brands, but it just does," Ryan Baylis, Drift's Chief Executive Officer, told WWD. "We do the same thing basically, but in a different vertical."

"I've always felt that fragrance needed a digital destination that would be focused on fragrance specifically and not just be category agnostic," she said. "For [Scentbird], fine fragrance was just a stepping stone. It was a doorway into fragrance at large, and I think it was only a matter of time before we started expanding into other adjacent categories."

DETAILS:

• Scentbird acquired the Drift car air freshener business. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
• Scentbird and Drift will maintain their separate subscription models, but a bundle subscription with products from both businesses is in the works and slated to launch in 2023. 
• This deal will allow Drift to scale manufacturer relationships and potential limited-edition collaborations with Scentbird's brand partners. 
• Drift reportedly has $6 million in annual recurring revenue. 
• In May 2018, Scentbird raised an $18.6 million Series A round of funding, raising the total amount to $28.7 million.