The year-old men’s health company Hims — which sells millennials hair-loss products and erectile dysfunction medication — is soon to be valued at $1 billion in a new round of fundraising, Recode has learned.
The erectile dysfunction pill company Hims will be worth $1 billion
Some investors balked at the price tag for the direct-to-consumer men’s health brand.
Hims is finalizing a $100 million round of new money, according to people familiar with the matter. The company is one of the buzzier digital brands in the world of e-commerce, already taking in about $100 million in previous cash and expanding in November into the women’s health business with a new line of products called Hers.
But it took the company quite a while to reach the $1 billion price it has been talking with investors on for several months, with some of them balking at the valuation. The company has basically been looking for new cash since it closed its last round of money last summer.
The lead investor is a late-stage investing firm that has not previously backed the company, one source said, but its identity couldn’t be immediately learned. Hims declined to comment. CNBC reported in August about Hims’ early approaches to investors.
Hims is hitting the vaunted $1 billion valuation territory with speed: The business only launched in November 2017. In addition to competing with legacy sellers of Viagra and Rogaine, Hims is battling for investor support with another direct-to-consumer men’s health brand, Roman.
Both companies are hoping to create businesses that take advantage of the stigma surrounding men’s health by removing middlemen like pharmacies and doctors. Hims founder Andrew Dudum has tried to pitch his company as not merely a brand but as a health care company with loyal patient relationships.
Still, one challenge for Hims, given its rapid cash-grabbing, will be for it to heed its founder’s words.
“You hear a lot of this: Raise a ton of money, spend it on marketing, get a bunch of customers and build really fast. I’m not convinced that that’s the best way to build a long-lasting business,” Dudum said last month. “A lot of brands being created could spend more time thinking about this stuff because the pump-and-dump of venture capital is not sustainable.”
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
