York St Brands - an exciting emerging company

York St Brands is our largest investment in the Profeta Global Investments Fund, and we are a top 5 shareholder in this wonderful business. It has enjoyed tremendous growth, especially since the merger of TBH Skincare and Boost Lab in 2023. 

Boost Lab, founded in October 2020, markets affordable skincare serums to women aged over 40, targeting potential beauty issues identified by this market segment. TBH Skincare, launched in 2019, offers technology-backed skincare products to young adults facing acne problems with innovative marketing strategies.

The merger of Boost Lab and TBH Skincare last year has created an emerging Australian leader in skin serums and acne cream categories with exciting global ambitions. Last week, the company launched BOUF, utilising patented technology to enter the haircare market. With Indy Clinton as the brand’s ambassador, sales are off to a flying start.

York St Brands continues to perform beyond our initial expectations when we first invested in the company in 2022 at an AUD 8 million valuation. We invested when the company was generating $2 million in sales and have enjoyed watching sales grow 15x in just 3 years. The journey has only just begun as the company launched BOUF at the end of May and is expanding into international markets.

Boost Lab has continued to grow in Australia with its serums, especially with the huge success of its unique neck serum targeting this niche market. Awareness in their key demographic in Australia has grown from 7% last year to 12% currently. They have recently launched into the UK and are seeing some positive signs through the online channel. The brand is following the same marketing playbook that has been so successful in Australia, currently signing up key influencers and leading with the neck serum.

Boost Lab is currently generating $1 million per month in online sales in Australia. The brand is leading with further product innovation with new product launches of eye patches, eye cream, a cleanser and an overnight neck cream set to launch at the end of this year.

TBH skincare has also been having tremendous success with their skin acne products and extended the range to pimple patches, milk toners, overnight masks and lip peptide treatment. They have a strong lineup of new products for 2025, including anti-bacterial soap, body wash and body lotion.

TBH Skincare continues to grow its awareness in the under-30 category, where the brand is winning market share in the skin acne cream category, growing to about 15% market share. They currently have about 30% market share of this category in Priceline, and recently, they expanded their retail distribution to supermarket giants, Woolworths and Coles, and Chemist Warehouse to further increase their share. They are also set to be trialled in 50-100 Boots stores in the UK in September.

The brands have grown from a revenue of only $2.5 million in FY22 to a revenue of $22 million in FY24, and are on track to generate revenue of $30 million in FY25. The company is targeting sales of $50 million for FY26, with some exciting launches coming up this calendar year.

The team launched a new haircare brand, BOUF, at the end of May 2025, creating another beauty segment for their product range. We are excited to see how this launch goes, as York St Brands has licensed a key technology that prevents thinning hair.

Here are some key reasons why we have invested in York St Brands during its infancy. Firstly, we like the skincare category for its high gross margins and huge addressable market globally. Some of the leading companies in the category include L’Oreal with a market capitalisation of €200 billion, Estee Lauder worth $30 billion and Natura, which bought Avon for $9 billion and Australia’s own Aesop for $2.5 billion. With the right products, marketing and scale, these businesses can become very valuable over time.

Secondly, we like the quality of York St brands’ products. Boost Lab’s skin serums achieved global recognition and multiple beauty awards. Its neck serum has been a blockbuster product over the past year.

Lastly, York St Brands has an incredible management team, with all the required skill sets to build out a large company in the category. Rachel Wilde founded TBH Skincare and drove the wonderful marketing success behind York St Brands’ online sales with her 15-person marketing team. Craig Schweighoffer founded 42 below and Ecoya, two very successful consumer brands sold respectively for $140 million and $200 million.

The company has just turned profitable with ambitious targets to continue their current revenue and earnings growth. They raised $2 million at a $45 million valuation to help launch their new hair care brand and to accelerate the international push into the United Kingdom and Asia.

We think this $45 million valuation, which is nearly double its previous $25 million valuation, significantly undervalues the company. It reflects a price-to-sales multiple of only 1.5x FY25, but we believe a more reasonable multiple would be 2-5x based on listed peers and transactions. Assuming only a 2.5x EV/Sales multiple and the company hitting its FY26 revenue target of $54 million, York St’s valuation will rise three times from $45 million to $135 million in one year. 

Last week, E.L.F beauty announced an $1 billion acquisition of Rhode, a Hailey Bieber-backed skincare brand, implying a valuation of 5x sales. Rhode was started just in 2022.

We were recently at York St Brands’ offices, conveniently around the corner from our own, and are quite impressed at how well the team has grown. Craig has done a tremendous job as CEO, and Rachel has built an impressive marketing team. Bridget, co-founder of TBH Skincare, has filled out the finance team to keep the business humming and well-funded.