NYC-based growth equity and venture capital firm Silas Capital was founded in 2012 by former entrepreneurs and investors investing in the next generation of consumer brands. Silas Capital joined the BeautyMatter 2023 Investor Power Player List for the first time.
The firm has closed its newest consumer growth fund, Silas Capital Partners II, reaching its hard cap of $150 million of commitments. The oversubscribed fund received strong support from prominent institutional investors, including endowments, fund of funds, insurance companies, global asset managers, family offices, and multinational CPG companies.
"We are deeply appreciative of the trust and support received from such a high–quality investor base. We're particularly proud that the vast majority of our long-term Limited Partners re-upped with us and were joined by a who's who of new LPs," said Carter Weiss, Partner of Silas Capital.
With Fund II, Silas Capital will continue to focus on $3 million to $15+ million investments in high-growth, and typically profitable, consumer brands between $5 million and $50+ million in revenue. This "emerging growth" strategy resides uniquely between venture capital and private equity, which has proven to be an ever-inefficient segment of the market within the consumer space.
Brian Thorne, Partner, said, "Frank, Carter and I have unique, complementary backgrounds that together bring expertise across e-commerce, wholesale, and retail that differentiates our partnership. We've seen great success focusing on brands with distinctive propositions, authentic founder stories and unfair advantages that allow for more efficient customer acquisition—especially when across an omni-channel distribution strategy."
Drawing upon its extensive experience as an active, lead investor in minority transactions, and as former entrepreneurs themselves, the Silas team helps brands accelerate growth, execute operationally, and recruit talent. This fund will continue to attract unique and proprietary investments in beauty, personal care, wellness, apparel, home, and food & beverage.
"In addition to our extensive network to support our portfolio, what sets Silas Capital apart is our deep consumer expertise and a record of successfully investing across multiple economic cycles," said Frank Lin, Partner. "Many of the shifting consumer behaviors we've seen through the pandemic will continue to endure, including the convergence of e-commerce with physical retail, growth in health and wellness, and conscious consumption."
The 2023 Deals:
Other Beauty and Wellness Investments: Cake, Wonderbelly, Herbivore, Cay Skin, Evereden, Feals, Function of Beauty, MUD\WTR, Cure Hydration, Scotch Porter, Veracity, Zitstika. Exits: ILIA to Famille C, the Courtin-Clarins family holding company; Lord Jones to Cronos Group.
