Robyn Rihanna Fenty continues her money-making ways with news her Savage X Fenty lingerie company is now valued at $1 billion dollars. The valuations comes via Forbes, which drew its conclusion based on news last week that the brand had raised $115 million in series B funding.
The fundraising effort was led by private equity firm L Catterton, an American-French firm whose investors include LVMH. Additional investors in the latest Goldman Sachs-managed round, include Shawn Carter‘s Marcy Venture Partners, Avenir Growth Capital, TriplePoint Venture and Sunley House Capital.
All told, the California-based lingerie brand has raised a total of $185 million. Prior to the new injection of cash, Forbes estimated Rihanna’s share of the company to be worth $80 million or 43 percent of the company.
The news of the Savage X Fenty investment emerged following LVMH and Rihanna’s announcement that the Fenty fashion label was shuttering after less than two years in business.
While the pandemic has rocked many brands, especially those with sales tied to physical stores, Savage X Fenty benefited from leaning into an online membership model super-charged by a big marketing spend on high-profile influencers like Kehlani, Megan thee Stallion and of course Rihanna herself, an established superstar when it comes to generating stratospheric levels of online engagement.
Launched in 2018, Savage X Fenty according to WWD grew 200% in 2020 with VIP memberships expanding by more than 150%.
While the brand will no doubt use the money to expand into new categories and geographies, as a lingerie company it’s part of an apparel and accessories segment that rakes in $13.1 billion in U.S. sales each year.
