The Honest Co., the consumer packaged goods company co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, is raising new funding at a valuation 57% lower than its last round.
The company’s new Series E stock would be priced at $19.60, according to a regulatory document shared by CB Insights and reported first by Axios. That’s more than half of the value of its Series D shares sold in 2015 at $45.75. The share authorization document was filed last week with Delaware regulators.
This pushes the company’s total valuation down from $1.7 billion to below $1 billion. It’s unclear if the shares have actually been sold. The document is a notice that authorizes the sale of shares.
The company, which has built its business around selling all-natural non-toxic household cleaners, body care products, and baby food, has raised $228 million since its founding in 2011. Its backers include Fidelity, Glade Brook Capital, General Catalyst Partners, Hartford Financial, Institutional Venture Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Wellington Management.
The lowered valuation follows two lawsuits that were settled this summer. In June, Honest Co. settled a lawsuit in New York that claimed it fraudulently labeled dozens of home and personal care products as natural, plant-based, or chemical-free.
Honest also reached a $1.55 million settlement of a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles that claimed it sold laundry detergent, dish soap, and surface cleaners containing a skin irritant it had pledged to avoid.
Last year, the company was in talks with Unilever to be acquired. But the deal never materialized after the multinational giant bought Seventh Generation for a reported $600 million to $700 million in cash.
