PARIS ­— Famille C Participations, the Courtin family’s holding company, has taken a majority stake in Pai Skincare to assist step up the brand’s growth and switch it into selective distribution’s clean skincare leader.

In April 2021, Famille C Participations purchased a minority stake in Pai, leading its $9 million Series B investment round.

Financial terms of essentially the most recent investment weren’t disclosed.

“It’s time for Pai to speed up in its country of origin, which is the U.K., and to develop in Europe,” said Prisca Courtin, chief executive officer of Famille C Participations. She is a member of the Courtin family, which founded and owns beauty giant Groupe Clarins.

Sarah Brown established Pai Skincare, which is certified organic, vegan and cruelty-free, in London in 2007.

Courtin described Pai’s positioning as an authentic clean brand that’s true and transparent in its ingredients and ingredient sourcing. She highlighted that Pai has full control of its formulas, with 98 percent of its ingredients stemming from natural origins.

“[Pai products] have the particularity of being very effective, unlike many clean products,” Courtin continued. “We said to ourselves that now’s the time we must speed up with it.”

Brown’s commitment and sincerity are also what attracted Famille C Participations to Pai.

“That’s what we like; it is extremely consistent with the Groupe Clarins and Ilia, too,” said Courtin, referring to Ilia Beauty, the Los Angeles-based clean makeup brand Famille C Participations acquired in 2022. “Sarah was an enormous a part of the decision-making process. She is vital, and it is vital that she stays by our side for the longer term.”

Pai has been supported by Famille C Participations and Groupe Clarins with expertise, comparable to regarding retail strategy with Sephora. That could be a partnership for Pai that until now has focused on the U.K. and France, and which might be key to the brand’s expansion throughout Europe. Other essential retail tie-ups include John Lewis within the U.K. and Oh My Cream on the Continent, where the brand is usually a top seller.

Famille C Participations also plans to assist Pai with its digital acceleration, especially improving sales by itself e-commerce site.

Today Pai is sold in 900 doors in 30 countries, and 40 percent of its overall business is generated online.

Courtin wouldn’t discuss numbers, but industry sources estimate Pai generates about 10 million kilos, or $12.4 million, in annual retail sales.

“We’re excited about the entire supply chain and logistics,” said Courtin, explaining that Pai’s lab in London is working at full throttle today. So a next step may very well be growing capability and possibly manufacturing a few of the brand’s products at Groupe Clarins’ facilities.

“At Pai there are still quite a lot of products to develop,” said Courtin, adding that’s despite it being a brand that already meets the needs of all skin sensitivities and kinds.

Amongst Pai’s roughly 30 products, its bestseller is the Rosehip Bioregenerate face oil. One bottle of it was sold every two minutes, as of 2021.

“They’ve super good repurchase rates, and the thought is actually to proceed capitalizing on this, to proceed making effective products,” Courtin said.

She lauded Pai’s revolutionary boosters, comparable to the one which’s mushroom-based and one other with vegetal collagen.

Brown will begin to focus a bit more on antiaging products.

“On this we may help her quite a bit with Clarins’ expertise,” said Courtin, explaining the overarching goal for Pai is “to turn out to be the leader in clean skincare in selective distribution.” That’s first to be in Europe, then abroad.

Other product categories Pai could concentrate on next are tinted complexion illuminators, body care, maternity-related body care and sunscreen.

“It’s very essential for its clients to have SPF — but natural — protection,” Courtin said.

She initiated Famille C Participations’ creation six years ago with the aim of primarily making beauty investments.

“We’ve got very specific strategic filters,” said Courtin, explaining a possible goal’s product formulas should be revolutionary and clean, and the brand should be embodied by a charismatic founder or founders, who wish to proceed their adventure with Famille C Participations.

“This could be very essential to us,” said Courtin, also explaining so are strong sustainable development commitments, including sourcing of quality ingredients.

Pai has amassed a formidable variety of certifications, including recent B Corp. status.

“It really proves Pai’s commitment from a sustainable development perspective,” Courtin said.

Other certifications include COSMOS Organic, COSMOS Natural, Cruelty Free International and London Living Wage.

The thought inside Famille C Participations is to have brands with an analogous vision, which share the identical values and DNA.

“The goal of this investment company is actually to create an industrial group that may support the wonder leaders of tomorrow,” Courtin said. “That’s my objective.

“We’re one hundred pc family-run, and think in the long run,” she continued.

So there is no such thing as a rush to grow a brand. The aim isn’t to sell the businesses either, but fairly to support them over time. Famille C Participations invests without constraint on company size, investment phase or exit horizon, sometimes taking majority or minority stakes.

Hair care stays a category of interest for the fund.

“We made a small investment in Ceremonia, which we like very much,” said Courtin, adding that the clean hair care brand rooted in Latinx heritage is doing thoroughly, and that Famille C would really like to search out one other hair care brand to accompany it.

Also on Famille C Participations’ radar is skincare targeting a younger or older demographic — especially premium skincare, which stays at Groupe Clarins’ core.

“We have a look at all of the opportunities available to us,” Courtin said.

Ninety percent of Famille C Participations’ investments are in beauty, however it has also gone farther afield, including a hotel within the South of France and a French chateau, replete with a working vineyard.