OSEA Malibu Lands General Atlantic Backing For International Growth And Product Innovation

OSEA Malibu is poised to set sail.

The seaweed-powered skincare and body care brand, turning 30 years old next year, has secured investment from growth equity firm General Atlantic, a backer of companies across beauty and wellness including Forma, Restore Hyper Wellness, Kayali, Grove Collaborative and European Wax Center. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Melissa Palmer, CEO and co-founder of OSEA, declined to share whether the brand sold a majority stake. CAVU Venture Partners, which invested in OSEA in 2021, is exiting with the transaction.

Raymond James advised OSEA on its deal with General Atlantic and its previous deal with CAVU Venture Partners. OSEA generates over $100 million in annual sales and is carried by Ulta Beauty, Bluemercury, Nordstrom, Credo and select spas. Its bestselling products include $54 Undaria Algae Body Oil, $88 Hyaluronic Sea Serum, $88 Dream Night Serum and $58 Ocean Eyes Age-Defying Eye Serum. Last year, Women’s Wear Daily reported that a possible deal between Shiseido and OSEA failed to materialize.

Palmer, whose mother Jenefer, a former spa director, started OSEA with a focus on clean, effective skincare, became CEO of the brand in 2016, and she’s cultivated a relationship with General Atlantic managing director Andrew Ferrer in the years since. She says, “I’ve been connected to the fund in so many different ways, and I have always been so impressed by them that it really opened the conversation…Getting to know people really is important for building a successful partnership.”

Ferrer and General Atlantic principal Ben Sherman are joining OSEA’s board of directors. “We did significant consumer research on OSEA and developed a real conviction in their leadership in prestige body care,” Sherman tells Beauty Independent. “The brand stands out with its mix of clinically proven products, clean ingredients and a deeply loyal community. We’re looking forward to helping the team continue to grow the brand and expand internationally.”

Ferrer adds, “We believe prestige body is an exciting and still underdeveloped area in skincare. For nearly 30 years, OSEA has built a brand its consumers deeply trust—and our consumer research confirmed this—by combining clean, ethical ingredients with products that work. We’re extremely excited to partner with Melissa, Jenefer and the whole team to carry that legacy forward and introduce OSEA to even more consumers worldwide.”

OSEA has around 60 people on its team. The funding from General Atlantic is being slated for product innovation in new categories and expansion into markets outside of North America, which is responsible for 98% of OSEA’s sales. The brand has kept its range tightly curated and hasn’t updated its logo or sparse packaging in its nearly three decades on the market. 

OSEA has entered Mexico as part of Ulta Beauty’s march into the country through a partnership with Mexican multi-brand retailer Grupo Axo. A broad selection of more than 30 OSEA products will be part of Ulta Beauty’s Mexico inaugural curation. Beyond Mexico, Palmer is excited to see Ulta’s expanding global footprint and is looking forward to getting OSEA into Asia, Europe and the Middle East. OSEA launched at Australian beauty specialty retailer Mecca last year. 

“We have such a big opportunity ahead. We’re really focused on raising brand awareness,” says Palmer, who’s traveling today to Mexico City to cut the ribbon on Ulta’s Mexico City store. “We’ve actually sold in Mexico for years in destination hotels and spas, but this was a super exciting way for us to launch with a partner we know and love.”

Although prestige skincare sales have slumped this year—the market research firm Circana estimates they are down 1% in the first half of this year on a dollar basis—skincare deals continue to get done, and skincare remains the most prominent category for beauty mergers and acquisitions. With skincare’s splashiest recent deals featuring celebrity-backed brands (Rhode) or brands with science at the fore (Medik8 and Epicutis), OSEA stands out for its anti-trend stance and concentration on organic ingredients. A major advantage for OSEA in future transactions is that strategic buyers in the beauty space are prioritizing businesses that have exhibited staying power.

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