The Honest Company Secures $27 Million in Funding Led by General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and IVP

LOS ANGELES, March 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Honest Company (www.Honest.com), a pioneer in providing non-toxic and natural baby and family products online, has announced the completion of its $27 million Series A financing, led by General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Institutional Venture Partners (IVP).   The funding will allow the company to accelerate growth and deeper development of their safer and eco-friendly products, as well as to further establish its brand as the most effective, affordable and authentic choice for today's families.

"The overwhelmingly positive response we have received since our recent launch has shown us we need to continue dedicating time and resources to further develop our Honest brand and community," said President of The Honest Company, Jessica Alba.  "The new funding confirms our positioning and acknowledges the big need for a brand and service to deliver pure, healthy products that are delightful, effective and beautiful."

"We are truly encouraged by the depth of knowledge the Honest team embodies for creating a brand that truly resonates with consumers everywhere.  This funding will help drive brand innovation and ground-breaking research to ensure the best non-toxic products for babies and families," said Neil Sequeira, Managing Director of General Catalyst.

An innovative e-commerce site, The Honest Company (www.Honest.com) offers monthly subscriptions of baby and family products, like diapers, wipes and bath / skin care – all delivered to members' front doors.  The Honest Company also formulates and manufactures household cleaning products, such as laundry detergent, surface cleaners and dish soap, all meticulously crafted in the USA.   

"The Honest Company is breaking new ground on building social commerce connectivity and awareness with consumers through the use of our creative brand strategies.  We are very excited to expand our brand to a market that is seeking a modern and fresh approach," said Brian Lee, CEO of The Honest Company.

"I have two young kids, three-and-a-half and six-months old. When Brian and Jessica told me what they were doing, creating natural, non-toxic, family products, I immediately understood the opportunity. All parents want the best, safest products for their kids," said Jeremy Liew, Managing Director of Lightspeed Venture Partners.

"To its core, The Honest Company is mission driven – a mission that believes that our children deserve better, healthier, and more sustainable lives, and we are excited to be a helping The Honest Company fulfill this promise," said Dennis Phelps, General Partner of IVP.

About The Honest Company

The Honest Company (www.Honest.com), helmed by Jessica Alba, Christopher Gavigan, Brian Lee, and Sean Kane, was created to ensure that parents have access to non-toxic, ecofriendly, beautiful family products that don't break the bank. The Honest Company offers a monthly subscription service, through Honest.com, of customized product bundles including diapers, wipes, baby bath, skin care, and home cleaning products delivered directly to customer's front doors. A percentage of sales is donated to Baby2Baby.org.  

About General Catalyst Partners

General Catalyst Partners is a venture capital firm that invests in exceptional entrepreneurs who are building the technology-based companies that will lead innovation and transform industries. Founded in 2000, General Catalyst Partners leverages its principals' extensive operational, business development and technological expertise to provide portfolio companies with a catalyst for success through business-building and partnership development assistance. General Catalyst has offices in Cambridge, MA and Palo Alto, CA. For more information, visit: www.generalcatalyst.com

About Lightspeed Venture Partners

Lightspeed Venture Partners is a leading global venture capital firm with over $2 billion of committed capital under management. Lightspeed's investment professionals and advisors are located in Silicon Valley, China, India and Israel. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed more than 150 companies, many of which have become leaders in their respective markets, including Blue Nile, ShoeDazzle, Ciena, DoubleClick, eHealth, Fusion IO, LivingSocial and Playdom. For more information, visit www.lightspeedvp.com

About Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) 

With $3 billion of committed capital, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) is one of the premier later-stage venture capital and growth equity firms in the United States. The partnership is currently investing IVP XIII, a $750 million later-stage fund focused on investments in rapidly growing technology and media companies. Founded in 1980, IVP has invested in over 300 companies, 89 of which have gone public. IVP is one of the top performing firms in the industry and has a 31 year IRR of 43.2%. IVP specializes in venture growth investments, industry rollups, founder liquidity transactions, and select public market investments. Since its inception, IVP investments include such notable companies as ArcSight, Aspect Communications, ComScore, Concur Technologies, Digital River, Dropbox, HomeAway, Juniper Networks, Kayak, LegalZoom, LivingSocial, MySQL, Netflix, Polycom, Seagate, Shazam, Synchronoss, Tivo, Twitter, and Zynga. For more information, visit www.ivp.com

SOURCE The Honest Company