Financial News

Jake Paul’s W Raises $14 Million in Seed and Series A Funding

Led by Shrug Capital and Anti Fund, the men’s personal care brand is reportedly on track to hit north of $50 million in its first year.

W, the men’s personal care brand from boxer and content creator Jake Paul, has raised a Series A led by Shrug Capital.

Valued north of $150 million, W has raised $14 million in funding to-date, inclusive of seed financing and incubation from Anti Fund. Prominent co-investors include Range Group, 305 Ventures, Uphonest Capital, Quiet Capital and Palm Tree Crew, with participation from Celsius’ CEO John Fieldly; Fanatic’s CEO Michael Rubin; Lil Durk; Nick Kyrgios; Naomi Osaka; and Carter Reum and Paris Hilton.

“It’s incredibly important to me that W fill the void that’s been apparent in the men’s personal care category for decades,” said Jake Paul, Founder of W. “Everything W does is different — from driving record sales in under a month to our forward-thinking approach to creator partnerships. Our funding to date reflects our investors’ confidence in the immense opportunity we have to build a new type of legacy brand in unique and unexpected ways. I invested my own capital into this company along with my partner and Co-Founder Geoffrey Woo because we strongly believe in W’s runway to achieve a massive and successful future.”

A Knockout Debut

Launched last month exclusively at Walmart, W surpassed seven figures in sales and is reportedly on track to hit north of $50 million in sales by year’s end. W says it will use the capital to support both SKU and retailer expansion as the company continues on its mission to “reinvigorate the men’s personal care aisle,” per the brand.

“The industry is riddled with legacy players that are taking antiquated approaches and in turn are losing market and mindshare,” said Moshe Lifschitz, Shrug Capital’s managing partner. “When we think about brands that will shape the next generation of household brands, W has all the characteristics. We are extremely excited to partner with Jake, Woodie, and Geoff and look forward to the many wins to come.”

W has also assembled a team of W co-owners — a roster of celebrity and influential brand ambassadors who embody the “winning spirit” in their respective industries. The equity holders announced to-date include MMA champion and ESPN’s 2024 Best UFC Fighter recipient, Sean O’Malley, and hip-hop star, Rubi Rose, with more co-owners to be announced. The goal of the co-owners is to bring together people Paul admires who represent hard work, ambition and does things differently across their unique domains of expertise.

“We realized the typical direct-to-consumer playbook wasn’t right for us and instead decided to launch retail-first with Walmart, America’s biggest retailer,” said W’s CEO and co-founder, Woodie Hillyard. “I’m extremely excited to see that consumers are reacting so positively to W since our launch just last month. We’re looking forward to expanding our consumer touchpoints and breaking records as one of the biggest CPG brands to hit the market.”

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