Latest news with #Lisbona
Time Magazine
17 hours ago
- Business
- Time Magazine
TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2025: Touchland
Hand sanitizer: killer of germs and fashion symbol? Why not, asks Andrea Lisbona, the Barcelona native who set out to make the humble hand cleansing gel fashionable—even sexy. She launched her brand Touchland, made up of attractively packaged sanitizer 'mists' that come in many fragrances (e.g., 'applelicious' and 'frosted mint'), with a Kickstarter campaign after moving to Miami in 2018. The company's products were gaining traction even before the COVID-19 pandemic supercharged demand for hand sanitizers. But sales growth has skyrocketed in recent years, as tweens and teens amass and trade entire Touchland collections. Revenues were over $100 million in 2024, up more than sixfold from 2022. Today, Touchland sanitizers, as well as body and hair fragrance mists, are available for $10 to $20 at 2,500 U.S. retail outlets, including ULTA and Sephora. The brand was acquired by consumer goods company Church & Dwight for $700 million in May 2025. 'I moved to the U.S. with a deep belief that we could change the category and create something that resonated globally,' Lisbona says. Still, 'the scale and speed of our growth is beyond what I imagined.'
Forbes
15-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Fragrance Brand Touchland Acquired For Up To $880 Million
Touchland net sales for the trailing twelve months through March 31, 2025 were approximately $130 ... More million Touchland, a buzzy hand sanitizer and body spray brand, has been acquired for up to $880 million by personal care conglomerate Church & Dwight. The announcement, made on May 12, consists of a definitive agreement to acquire the Touchland for $700 million at closing, consisting of cash and Church & Dwight restricted stock, and a payment up to $180 million contingent on the achievement of Touchland's 2025 net sales for a total purchase price of up to $880 million, according to a Church & Dwight press release. Touchland launched in 2018 and net sales for the trailing twelve months through March 31, 2025 were approximately $130 million. Its hand sanitizer products became particularly popular in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and with Gen Z, and the brand expanded to body sprays in February 2025. Andrea Lisbona, founder and CEO of Touchland, said Church & Dwight had a 'disciplined and entrepreneurial spirit' that resonated with her and aligned with the Touchland brand. She said that every conversation with the Church & Dwight teams had a positive energy and excitement, and she could tell they were excited about running and building businesses while also being disciplined. 'They challenge their ability to balance [financial] performance with purpose,' she said to Forbes. 'It enables a partnership grounded in mutual respect and ambition, and this cultural fit was the most important part of the process. … This is the most important decision of any founder's life. Finding the right home and being able to really protect the legacy of this beautiful brand is the most important.' Touchland is seen special resonance with Gen Z due to their obsession with personal fragrance. As maturing Gen-Z customers began to discover and experiment with scent, fragrance has a consistent bright spot for the beauty industry since 2021. A study from consulting firm McKinsey noted that while fragrance is the smallest category in beauty, it was 2024's fastest-growing. In 2024, sales of prestige perfumes and colognes, the largest segment in fragrance, grew 14% year-over-year, according to market research firm Circana. There are four pillars that ground the Touchland innovation pipeline, said Lisbona. The first is a focus on disrupting the on-the-go personal care experience, such as with packaging or form factor. The second is fusing those products with skincare, and the third is fragrance. The fourth is sensoriality and how it impacts customer experience. 'Touchland has built a loyal consumer base through its differentiated consumer proposition and is driving growth in the hand sanitizer category,' said Rick Dierker, CEO of Church & Dwight, in a press release. 'The brand skews towards younger consumers and already has a high level of brand loyalty and repeat purchase in line with category leaders.' In 2022, Church & Dwight acquired Hero Cosmetics, known for its pimple patches, for $630 million. Its other brands include Nair, Batiste and Arm & Hammer. Recently, the conglomerate shared plans to sell or shutter three brands: women's electric hair removal brand Flawless, toothbrush brand Spinbrush and dental brand Waterpik. These businesses generate about $150 million of net sales with below average profitability, according to Church & Dwight. Lisbona will stay on with Touchland as its chief executive, with a focus on expansion in U.S. retail and international geographic growth. Touchland recently expanded into Canada and the Middle East. She declined to discuss upcoming product launches or additional product categories. In the past, 'There's multiple avenues to scale and now we will have the opportunity to do it better, faster, and with a partner that has done this successfully many times,' she said.
