US-based health and beauty product manufacturer Walker and Company Brands has been acquired by consumer goods producer Procter & Gamble, allowing internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet to exit.
The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, though Recode estimated the price was likely between $20m and $40m.
Founded in 2013, Walker and Company produces health and beauty products formulated according to the specific needs of people of colour (POC). It owns two brands: a shaving kit called Bevel for men with coarse, curly hair, and a personalised women’s haircare range dubbed Form.
Walker and Company will continue under the helm of chief executive Tristan Walker as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Procter & Gamble, reporting to the corporate’s healthcare and beauty division.
The company will also move from its Silicon Valley headquarters to Atlanta, Georgia, reportedly home to its largest customer base.
Walker and Company had raised almost $40m in funding according to Recode, including $24m in a 2015 series B round led by Institutional Venture Partners that featured GV, the Alphabet unit then known as Google Ventures, as well as Andreessen Horowitz and Upfront Ventures.
Daher Capital, Collaborative Fund, Felicis Ventures and Melo7 Tech Partners also took part in the series B round, as did ex-basketball professional Magic Johnson and performer John Legend.
The company had already attracted $6.9m in an Andreessen Horowitz-led series A round in 2014 that included Johnson + Partners, Upfront Ventures, Collaborative Fund and Daher Capital, the latter three having backed its $2.4m seed round the previous year.
Code2040, a non-profit tech organisation co-founded by Tristan Walker to encourage entrepreneurs with minority ethnic backgrounds, also reportedly provided early-stage funding for Walker and Company.