Baresop secures $360,000 raise and strategic partnership with pharmacy distributor Alita Sales

The founder and CEO of health and wellness brand Baresop has confirmed the Melbourne-based startup is pumped for another sprint in its mission to disrupt and positively change the personal care category with a $360,000 investment and strategic partnership with Australian pharmacy distributor Alita Sales. 

Prisca Ongonga-Daehn launched the brand in 2018, creating plant-based hand and body wash powders that users can then mix with water in reusable bottles. 

The strategic alliance with Alita Sales means Baresop will extend its presence to 58 retail groups and gain access to over 4,000 pharmacy doors. The startup expects to grow annual revenue by $2.1 million in the first year of the partnership, as it continues its mission to eliminate single-use plastic waste and conserve water.

Alita Sales works with some of the nation’s largest pharmacy retailers, including Priceline, Chemist Warehouse, and TerryWhite. 

Ongonga-Daehn says this investment in the startup, which has a $6 million pre-money valuation cap, will all go towards growth in the pharmacy channel. 

Baresop also has the ability to unlock an extra $250,000 from Alita Sales, based on the performance of the partnership.

“Having Alita Sales team gives us another opportunity to sprint to our mission and access to acquire more customers and increase our market share in the pharmacy channel as a number one channel growth channel for consumers buying personal care products,” she told SmartCompany. 

“As we continue to address the significant waste challenges within the personal care market, we understand the necessity of diversifying our channels and revenue streams for sustainable business growth.

“This partnership with Alita Sales aligns perfectly with our growth strategy and will enable us to secure a substantial share of the clean and green personal care market in Australia.”

Ongonga-Daehn says it was the distributor that reached out to the startup. 

“Alita Sales have been looking for a brand in the waterless space for quite some time as they believe this category will become one of the largest growth opportunities in personal care and they wanted to be part of the climate solution,” she explains. 

“They reached out for an exploration and after intensive due diligence in this space, they decided that Baresop was the perfect fit for them. They were particularly after a brand with a potential for strong EBITA and that’s Australia made and offers a frictionless consumer experience.”

The collaboration comes just two months after Baresop expanded its retail partnership with Australian health and wellness wholesale retail chain Go Vita, with the brand’s products now available in more than 200 Go Vita stores across Australia, and two years after Baresop won an Amazon Launchpad Innovation Grant valued at $200,000. 

Baresop chief commercial officer and managing director Michael Bronfman said the company’s focus on the retail market is a critical one as it embarks on its scale-up journey. 

“This partnership gives us exposure to over 6,000 retail doors nationally across both the retail and pharmacy channels, including some of Australia’s most recognisable household names such as Priceline, Chemist Warehouse, and TerryWhite further supporting our growth trajectory of [around] 800% over the next 12 to 24 months”, he said.

Alita Sales managing director Nicole Holmes said the company is excited by the opportunity to bring Baresop to the pharmacy channel. 

“We have been actively looking for an innovative product that is a true game changer to the issue of single-use plastics in body care and we believe Baresop is that brand. It is the first brand we have seen that presents a true, frictionless user experience with no bottles needing to be returned and the formulation being Australian-made,” she said.

Ongonga-Daehn confirmed the brand’s future plans involve pulling all the levers to get it closer to its mission of saving 1 billion single-use plastic bottles from landfill, 50,000 tonnes of CO2 avoided from the atmosphere, and 600,000 litres of water conserved by 2035. 

“Of each litre of water we conserve, we make that accessible to grass-root communities that have no access to clean and safe drinking water,” she added.