Aria Growth Partners sees continued opportunity in affordable, science-backed skincare.
The consumer growth equity firm has invested in Good Molecules, the ingredient-focused skincare brand joining a portfolio that already includes The Inkey List and Ultra Violette. Neither company commented on the investment, but industry sources estimate Good Molecules is profitable and generating roughly $100 million in annual sales.
The deal reinforces Aria’s conviction around masstige skincare built on active ingredients, efficacy and value, a thesis that has also informed its investment in The Inkey List, which generated approximately $100 million in revenue in 2024, according to filings in the United Kingdom, and is forecast by industry sources cited by Women’s Wear Daily to reach $200 million in retail sales this year.
Science-backed skincare has been one of beauty’s hottest investment areas. Last year, informed by a survey of investors, XRC Ventures named it the most compelling category in beauty dealmaking. Based on data from financial resource Crunchbase, the firm calculated that science-backed brands command 5X to 6X revenue multiples, about 20% higher than their counterparts without strong scientific positioning.
Aria Growth Partners, backer of The Inkey List and Ultra Violette, has invested in Good Molecules as investor appetite for ingredient-led, affordable skincare remains strong.
Recent skincare deals include L’Oréal’s acquisition of Medik8, Bansk’s majority stake in Byoma, Prelude Growth Partners’ investment in OneSkin and Imaginary Ventures and Sandbridge Capital’s investment in Sweet Chemistry. The deals are happening as market research firm Circana calls skincare a “steady growth engine,” with first-quarter sales in the category up 7% in prestige and 8% in mass.
Veteran investors Jackie Dunklau and Trevor Nelson—she was previously at CAVU Venture Partners and he was at Alliance Consumer Growth—founded Aria in 2020. The firm typically writes $10 million to $40 million-plus checks for minority stakes in companies generating $10 million to more than $100 million in sales.
Aria closed its second fund at $152 million last year and currently has nearly $250 million in assets under management. Previous portfolio companies LesserEvil and Hero Cosmetics exited to The Hershey Co. and Church & Dwight for $750 million in 2025 and $630 million in 2022, respectively.
A report from growth advisory and retail intelligence firm Jump Accelerator showed Good Molecules cracking the top 20 skincare brands at Target in the first quarter this year. Shopper insights firm Sorcea Labs ranked Good Molecules the fifth most popular skincare brand on American college campuses, underscoring its resonance with younger consumers seeking effective skincare at accessible prices. The brand ranked behind CeraVe, La Roche-Posay, The Ordinary and Paula’s Choice and ahead of Clinique, Neutrogena, Rhode and Glow Recipe.
“Good Molecules is a Goldilocks brand.”
“Good Molecules is a Goldilocks brand,” says Jadon Wyant, CEO of Sorcea Labs. “They’re affordable, the formulations perform, and they’ve built an image people relate to. Move the price up, and you’re competing with clinical brands. Move it down, and you’re on a shelf next to drugstore products. Lean heavily on status, and you lose to celebrity-backed brands. Good Molecules has positioned itself just right.”
The Ordinary serves as an important reference point for Good Molecules in its deal with Aria. Estée Lauder spent roughly $1.7 billion acquiring Deciem, the parent company of The Ordinary, which pioneered ingredient-led skincare at accessible prices and could approach $1 billion in sales this year. Aria and Bansk appear to believe strategic buyers still want comparable assets in their portfolios.
Nils Johnson, Romee Ham and Sameer Iyengar, who co-founded beauty e-tailer Beautylish in 2010, launched Good Molecules in 2019. CEO Johnson began his career selling menswear at Bergdorf Goodman before moving into finance at Deutsche Bank and becoming an angel investor in companies such as Warby Parker, Everlane and Affirm. Iyengar formerly worked on monetization at YouTube and data analytics at Google.
Sources estimate Beautylish generates as much as $50 million in annual sales. It carries nearly 150 brands, including Danessa Myricks Beauty, Anna Sui, Charlotte Tilbury, Sunday Riley, RMS Beauty and Oribe. Prior to Good Molecules’ deal with Aria, Beautylish had secured around $25 million in funding, according to Crunchbase.
Nils Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Good Molecules
Good Molecules’ assortment spans roughly 50 products across cleansers, serums, moisturizers, exfoliants, sunscreens and treatments, with most items priced between $6 and $18. Among its bestsellers are Discoloration Correcting Serum, Yerba Mate Wake Up Eye Gel, Niacinamide Brightening Toner, Hyaluronic Acid Serum and Lightweight Daily Moisturizer.
In a 2023 interview with Beauty Independent, Johnson said, “Everybody wants more value for their money, everybody. So, we constantly look for ways to deliver more value. Value is not simply price. Value is what you are getting for your money. That could be better ingredients. It could be more volume. It could be better packaging.”
Good Molecules launched at Ulta Beauty in 2021 and expanded to Target in 2024. Last year, the brand entered Canada with nationwide rollouts at Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix. Good Molecules’ ability to scale without Sephora could be particularly appealing as investors look to diversify retail risk. Aria’s other beauty portfolio brands, Ultra Violette and The Inkey List, are sold through Sephora, although The Inkey List expanded to Ulta last year.
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