Consumer Benchmark Report: Beauty and Personal Care: Fragrance

We are excited to present the Brand Capital Fund’s latest insights in the consumer space with the release of our Consumer Benchmark Report, focused on Fragrance.

Discover the Trends — This in-depth report provides valuable insights into the fragrance market, covering market trends, deal activity, and early-stage fundraising benchmarks — plus a snapshot of current venture capital sentiment. Learn what’s driving decisions today and what that signals for the years ahead — download your complimentary copy today!

CONTENTS

Section 1: Beauty and Personal Care: Overview & Trends

• Part 1: Industry Overview: Fragrance
  💡 Key Insight: In an AI-driven world, fragrance delivers something algorithms can’t: a feeling, and consumers are responding accordingly. Fragrance outpaced every other beauty category in 2025, fueled by FragranceTok, scent-stacking, and fragrance wardrobes that are turning scent from a single purchase into a daily ritual.

• Part 2: Fragrance Investment Themes and Opportunities
  💡 Key Insight: Fragrance is no longer just a feature or category — it’s becoming a platform that extends across personal care, home, laundry, and wellness, helping transform historically functional, low-margin categories into emotional, premiumized ones. Capital is following accordingly. Strategics including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and L’Oréal are increasingly treating fragrance as a core strategic capability, while recent transactions underscore a growing appetite for scent-led platforms.

Section 2: Investor Priorities in Beauty and Personal Care for 2026

• Part 1: Will VCs Be Investing More or Less?
  💡 Key Insight: Investor appetite is strong amongst consumer VCs — 100% plan to invest the same or more in beauty and personal care in 2026, with 56% planning to invest more, but the bar is higher. Interest is strongest in hair care, scalp care, body care, and oral care.

• Part 2: What Matters to Investors?
  💡 Key Insight: Sales growth and repurchase rate remain top priorities, but investors are placing greater emphasis on unit economics, a credible path to profitability, and profitability by channel.

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