Grove Collaborative

Market position

The company positions itself as a leading sustainable home and personal care e-commerce platform, marketing what it describes as a rigorous banned-ingredients standard for household essentials. It is classified under consumer staples / household and personal products and was named by Fast Company as one of the most innovative companies in 2022. Following its SPAC merger it was valued at approximately $1.5 billion, though subsequent periods brought revenue declines and cost reductions.

Differentiators cited include the Grove Standard ingredient screening applied across the marketplace, owned planet-first brands sold exclusively on the platform, physician-informed product standards via a chief medical advisor, plastic-neutral and carbon-neutral order fulfillment through its Beyond Plastic initiative and RePurpose Global partnership, and its status as a Certified B Corporation and public benefit corporation.

Technology

Grove operates an owned direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform with subscription management that lets customers subscribe or unsubscribe to individual products and set replenishment frequency, plus a mobile app. Product-side innovation has centered on concentrated and refillable formats, including concentrated cleaners introduced in 2017, zero-waste cleaner concentrates, dish soaps and multi-surface sprays, and plastic-free personal care bars under the Peach not Plastic line.

Go-to-market

Primary distribution is direct-to-consumer through grove.co, using subscription-based recurring shipments, a referral program and a VIP membership to drive retention. Marketing has included celebrity association — actress Drew Barrymore became an investor in April 2022 and the company's first global brand and sustainability advocate — and merchandising tie-ins such as an "Unplastic Shop" curated with the producers of the Netflix program The Plastic Detox. From 2021 the company added wholesale retail distribution, beginning with over 1,900 Target stores and later Kohl's, Meijer, Giant Eagle, Harris Teeter and H-E-B, reaching more than 4,000 locations, before exiting physical retail in late 2024.

Households and families seeking non-toxic, plant-based, cruelty-free and lower-plastic alternatives to conventional home and personal care goods. The company has stated that roughly half of its customers are trying natural products for the first time through its platform.

Geography

United States-focused operations, headquartered in San Francisco, California (1301 Sansome St) with an additional office in Portland, Maine.

History

Founded as ePantry in 2012, the company rebranded to Grove and launched its current platform in 2016, the same year it became a Certified B Corporation. Its first funding round came in February 2015 at $3.3 million, followed by a $35 million Series C led by Norwest Venture Partners in January 2018 that brought total equity raised past $60 million. Concentrated cleaners launched in 2017. In 2021 the company hired former Amazon executive Jennie Perry as chief marketing officer and began retail distribution with Target. On December 8, 2021 it announced a merger with Virgin Group Acquisition Corp. II, a SPAC backed by Richard Branson, at a $1.5 billion pro forma enterprise value; the deal provided approximately $435 million in net proceeds, including an $87 million PIPE and $348 million from the Virgin Group SPAC trust, and closed June 16, 2022 with shares trading under GROV. Sergio Cervantes was named CFO in early 2022 and John Replogle became board chairman in February 2022; the company laid off 17% of its workforce after the merger. Jeff Yurcisin became CEO in August 2023 as Stuart Landesberg moved to Executive Chairman and Replogle became Lead Independent Director. In December 2024 the company announced Landesberg would step down, and in late 2024 it exited physical retail partnerships.

Risks & controversies

The company has reported sustained losses, including a $35.3 million operating loss and $43.2 million net loss in 2023, and revenue declined from $364.3 million in 2020 to $259.3 million in 2023. Q1 2022 revenue fell 11% year over year, and the company cut 17% of its workforce shortly after the SPAC merger to reduce operating costs. It shed 80% of its downtown San Francisco headquarters space in 2024 with an eye on profitability, and in late 2024 abandoned physical retail distribution built up since 2021. Leadership has turned over repeatedly, with CEO and executive chairman changes in 2023 and 2024.