Dive Brief:
- About six years after being founded, luxury candle brand Otherland has been acquired by Curio Brands, according to a press release shared with Retail Dive. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- The direct-to-consumer candle brand’s co-founders, Abigail Cook Stone and Sayyid Markar, will stay on with Curio. Markar will support Otherland’s operations and supply chain while Stone will oversee brand strategy and execution.
- Otherland joins Curio’s portfolio of other branded fragrances, which includes Capri Blue and Thymes.
Dive Insight:
Otherland’s younger customer demographic is a key interest for Curio.
“We are thrilled to join forces with Otherland, a direct-to-consumer powerhouse brand that inspires remarkable passion from Millennial and Gen Z consumers,” Anne Sempowski Ward, CEO of Curio Brands, said in a statement.
Stone is looking forward to fueling Otherland’s next phase of growth, saying in a statement that “since Sayyid and I founded Otherland in 2017, our goal has been to make beautiful, luxury-quality candles accessible. Curio’s expertise and scale will bring Otherland to new channels and consumers.”
Otherland — which will remain headquartered in New York City — in 2019 raised about $2.7 million in seed funding with support from the confounders of Venmo and Casper, according to reporting from Fortune at the time.
While Otherland has a strong DTC presence, its new owners are not strangers to wholesale. Curio sells its brands through over 11,000 retail locations, including major retailers, independent specialty stores, as well as on Amazon and DTC websites. Otherland also sells through retailers such as Sephora, Nordstrom and Anthrologie, with most candles starting at $36.
Otherland operates a brick-and-mortar store in the SoHo district of New York City, which opened in June 2022.
