As investor interest in fragrance remains strong, Fascent has raised an angel round of 1.3 million euros or around $1.5 million to fuel expansion as it tracks toward $2.3 million in sales this year.
Co-founders Fanny Descamps and Edwina Réthoré started the Paris-based brand in 2023 with $230,000 from grants, bank financing and a low-interest loan for entrepreneurs. The pair received an additional $115,000 in bank financing in 2024. The angel funding marks Fascent’s first raise from investors. The brand has seen over 300% year-over-year growth.
Descamps says she and Réthoré turned down an offer from a traditional investment fund because they preferred to “be closer to the people that are going to invest in Fascent.” She explains, “We want people who, if we ask a question on WhatsApp, they can answer within a few hours.”
Descamps and Réthoré worked at beauty companies such as Diptyque, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Firmenich, CPL Aromas and Guerlain prior to launching Fascent. The brand’s funding round involves 14 angel investors, including founders, investors and senior executives from the fragrance, cosmetics and fashion industries. Their backgrounds include Coty, Jacquemus, Firmenich and Elle International.
Fragrance has been one of beauty’s fastest-growing categories. Market research firm Circana estimates prestige fragrance sales rose 7% in the first quarter. Perfumer H, Elorea, Orebella and Henry Rose are among the fragrance brands that have attracted funding in recent months and years. Beauty Independent learned of Fascent’s funding via Playbook of Beauty and subsequently confirmed the details with the company.
The new funding will support Fascent’s expansion in the United States. The brand’s global retail network spans nearly 400 doors in 30 countries, and in the U.S., it’s available at Arielle Shoshana, Revolve, Luckyscent and Credo. This summer, it’s entering Anthropologie and Ministry of Scent. Fascent expects to open a U.S. warehouse to bolster its logistics capabilities as it expands in the country. Descamps identifies Sephora as a dream retailer for Fascent. She says, “It’s a must and will be a goal for us.”
The funding will also support increased production. Fascent’s assortment contains eight fragrances priced at $78 each for a 30-ml. bottle, including U.S. bestsellers Crème Brûlante and Sel à Vie along with I Fig You, Milky No Way, Radical Softness, L’eau D’or Dort and Red Flag. There are plans to release 10-ml. bottles toward the end of the year accompanied by charms so consumers can carry the scents with them, as well as an 80-ml. format next year. Shower and home products are possibilities further down the line.
Making Fascent both affordable and cool was a priority for Descamps and Réthoré. Sustainability has been central to the brand, too. Its bottles are constructed from recycled glass, its caps are made from 3D-printed corn starch shaped with Play-Doh, and its boxes are constructed from Forest Stewardship Council-certified materials. The brand sells glass ampoule refills.
Fascent’s latest release, Corn Star, was designed with the gourmand-obsessed American consumer in mind. It features notes of popcorn, pear, coconut water and marshmallow. “It’s a perfume that is full of joy,” says Descamps. “We say it’s a freshly popped desire.”
@fascent.fr Ce qui arrive est énorme… CORN STAR notre nouveau parfum bientôt disponible. What’s coming is next level… CORN STAR, our new fragrance, coming soon. #Fascent #CornStar #PerfumeTok #NewFragrance #ComingSoon
To promote Corn Star, Fascent released a campaign starring Descamps and Réthoré frolicking through an amusement park with a life-sized perfume bottle. Descamps anticipates elevating the brand’s marketing in the future by teaming up with big-name influencers and rolling out additional larger-than-life campaigns.
Today, Fascent primarily relies on user-generated content, trend-driven videos and creative imagery—sometimes photography, other times artificial intelligence—to grab consumers’ attention on social media. The brand’s two most-watched videos feature Descamps and Réthoré discussing its products.
“Perfume is one of life’s greatest pleasures,” says Descamps. “We want the brand to be super fun, super playful and joyful, and we don’t want to take ourselves too seriously. The idea is really to fit your perfume to your facet, to your life and to how you feel it.”
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