General Atlantic invests in Buff City Soap

General Atlantic has made an investment in Buff City Soap, a home and personal care brand franchise. No financial terms were disclosed. As part of the investment, Lexie Bartlett, a principal at General Atlantic, will join Buff City Soap’s board of directors.

PRESS RELEASE

DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Buff City Soap, a plant-based home and personal care brand franchise, today announced it has secured additional funding from General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm. This new capital follows General Atlantic’s initial growth investment in Buff City Soap announced in June 2021 and makes General Atlantic the largest shareholder in the company.

“We believe that Buff City Soap is well positioned to capture additional market share in the growing personal care and home consumables category.”

“As a growing number of consumers prefer brands that are plant-based, sustainable, and ultimately aligned with their personal core values, we have a remarkable opportunity on a number of fronts. Support from General Atlantic will enable us to continue to expand our physical and digital footprint, introduce exciting new products, continue to innovate our experiential in-store experience, and help shape the future of the personal care and home consumables category,” said Craig Kessler, Chief Executive Officer of Buff City Soap. “We look forward to building on our momentum with General Atlantic’s continued partnership.”
To support its growth, Buff City Soap has expanded its management team in recent months with several key hires. These hires include Kessler as Chief Executive Officer (former Chief Operating Officer at Topgolf), Enrique Ramirez as Chief Financial Officer & President of International (former Global Chief Financial Officer and General Manager of Latin America & Iberia at Pizza Hut), Jean Grossman as Chief Operating Officer (former Chief Franchise Officer at European Wax Center), and Shellie Caudill as Chief Product Officer (former product leader for Procter & Gamble and Bath & Body Works).

“Since our initial investment, Buff City Soap’s growth has continued to accelerate, demonstrating the long-term value of its innovative approach to creating sustainable home and personal care products that consumers love,” said Andrew Crawford, Global Head of Consumer at General Atlantic. “We believe that Buff City Soap is well positioned to capture additional market share in the growing personal care and home consumables category.”

Buff City Soap has a franchisee base of over 40 operators, including operators with former experience in high-performing franchisee systems including Planet Fitness, Sun Tan City, Wendy’s, and Smoothie King.

As part of the investment, Lexie Bartlett, Principal at General Atlantic, will join Buff City Soap’s Board of Directors.