Violette_FR raises $5M Series B extension from existing investors as makeup M&A freezes
What's the deal? French-inspired beauty brand Violette_FRDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised $5 million from three existing investors, effectively extending a series B round it closed in 2024. A US Securities and Exchange Commission filing lists board directors from Female Founders FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Monogram Capital PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Silas CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Highlander PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
Founded in 2021 by makeup artist Violette Serrat — a former global beauty director at Estée Lauder with more than 1 million followers across Instagram and YouTube — the brand sells makeup, skincare, haircare, and fragrance priced mostly between $23 and $68. It is stocked at Sephora, Liberty, Le Bon Marché, Mecca, and Oh My Cream.
The fresh capital will fund working capital to support growth. Last October, Serrat told Women's Wear Daily the brand expected to become profitable soon, with sales split evenly between direct-to-consumer and retail.
Why now? The $5 million raise hits what Ilya Seglin, managing director at investment bank Cascadia CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, calls "the hardest check to raise in beauty" — too large for early-stage venture capital, too small for private equity firms chasing bigger deals. That existing investors wrote the cheque signals confidence in the brand's underlying performance, Seglin says.
Violette_FR is not alone. Earlier this year, prestige makeup peer Westman Atelier raised $15 million from its existing backers Prelude Growth PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Imaginary VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → after its sale process reportedly went quiet.
What could go wrong? The colour cosmetics market is crowded and exit-starved. Makeup by Mario, Merit, One/Size, Rare Beauty, and Kosas are among brands that haven't found a buyer. Meanwhile, established names such as Smashbox, Too Faced, Make Up For Ever, and Coty's mass-market portfolio — CoverGirl, Rimmel London, Sally Hansen, and Max Factor — are also looking to be rehomed.
Many potential acquirers question whether brands on the market can outlast the trends fuelling their momentum, Seglin argues. A prolonged M&A freeze could make future fundraising harder still.
The signal: Silas Capital, which led Violette_FR's series B, also backs Makeup by Mario — one of several prestige makeup brands still searching for an exit. That an investor with direct visibility into the category's M&A drought chose to write a follow-on cheque underscores how selectively capital is being deployed: only brands whose fundamentals can survive a prolonged exit freeze are attracting fresh commitments. For Violette_FR, still in the early growth stage according to Dealroom, the bet is that disciplined spending now will translate into a stronger negotiating position when acquirer appetite eventually returns.
Read more: Beauty Independent
