BFA Industries
Private beauty company behind IPSY, formed in 2020 when IPSY acquired BoxyCharm for roughly $500 million, backed by TPG Growth.
Company Type
private
Founded
2020
Headquarters
San Mateo, California, USA
Revenue
Not publicly disclosed (estimated near $1 billion range historically)
Employees
Approximately 500 to 1,000 (estimate)
Primary Market
United States
BFA Industries Timeline
Shop BFA Industries Brands
Disclosure: We may earn commission from purchases
About BFA Industries
Who owns BFA Industries?
Founders Michelle Phan, Marcelo Camberos, and Jennifer Goldfarb hold equity alongside venture investors led by TPG Growth. The company is privately held with undisclosed percentages.
Is BFA Industries publicly traded?
No. BFA Industries is a private venture-backed company with no public listing.
What does BFA stand for?
BFA stands for Beauty For All Industries, the name chosen when the parent company formed in October 2020 to hold IPSY and BoxyCharm.
What does BFA Industries own?
The company operates the IPSY subscription platform, including the Glam Bag, BoxyCharm by IPSY, and Icon Box tiers, plus the Refreshments personal care line.
Who is the CEO of BFA Industries?
Galen C. Smith has been CEO since September 2024. Co-founder Marcelo Camberos serves as chairman.
When was BFA Industries founded?
The company formed in October 2020 when IPSY acquired BoxyCharm for approximately $500 million. Its flagship IPSY business dates to 2011.
History of BFA Industries
The company's origins are IPSY's: Michelle Phan, Marcelo Camberos, and Jennifer Goldfarb founded the business in 2011, launching as MyGlam before rebranding to ipsy.com in 2012. The Glam Bag subscription grew to more than half a million subscribers in year one, and IPSY became the defining brand of the beauty subscription wave through the 2010s.
BFA Industries itself formed in October 2020 as the parent entity for the BoxyCharm acquisition. The roughly $500 million deal combined the two largest beauty subscription services, with Camberos becoming CEO of the parent and BoxyCharm founder Joe Martin joining the board.
TPG Growth's $96 million investment in February 2022 funded expansion, and the company operated an incubator, Madeby Collective, that launched ITEM Beauty with Addison Rae and Tresluce Beauty with Becky G before winding it down in 2023 to refocus on brand partnerships.
The 2023 consolidation folded BoxyCharm into IPSY's platform, simplifying the subscription structure around Glam Bag, BoxyCharm by IPSY, and the quarterly Icon Box. Leadership transitioned in September 2024 when Galen C. Smith became CEO and Camberos moved to chairman, the current structure operating the consolidated IPSY business.
BFA Industries Sustainability & Ethics
The company's sustainability profile is typical of subscription commerce: recyclable mailer initiatives and curated conscious-beauty options within the personalization system, without B Corp certification or a standalone sustainability report at holding level.
The structural critique is sample-format packaging waste, an inherent feature of the sampling model the company addresses through recyclable packaging programs and full-size tiers.
Curation ethics include the platform's filtering for clean, vegan, and cruelty-free preferences within member personalization, a feature rather than a certification.
Controversy, Regulation & Public Scrutiny
Subscription practices: The company's auto-renewal model operates under FTC negative option rules and state subscription laws, with periodic member complaints about cancellation friction handled through account tools, a category-wide issue rather than a BFA-specific finding.
BoxyCharm migration: The 2023 consolidation produced member friction as legacy BoxyCharm subscribers moved onto the IPSY platform with tier and pricing changes.
Founder transition: Michelle Phan's reduced operational role, years before the BFA formation, is a recurring narrative point for a company whose original differentiation was its founder's audience.
Brands Owned by BFA Industries
BFA Industries owns 1 brand in our database. Explore the ownership tree below — click categories to expand and see individual brands.
BFA Industries
private · Founded 2020 · San Mateo, California, USA
1
brands
BFA Industries Ownership: Pros & Cons
Advantages
- +Consolidated category leadership after the BoxyCharm acquisition
- +Proprietary personalization data and matching algorithm
- +Creator-founded brand heritage delivers organic reach
- +Recurring subscription revenue with predictable economics
- +TPG Growth backing provides institutional capital
Considerations
- -Private status limits financial disclosure and visibility
- -Mature subscription market means slower growth than formation era
- -FTC negative option rules create compliance exposure
- -Single-flagship concentration after consolidation
- -Founder distance weakens the original creator-differentiation
Frequently Asked Questions About BFA Industries
Who owns BFA Industries?
Founders Michelle Phan, Marcelo Camberos, and Jennifer Goldfarb hold equity alongside venture investors led by TPG Growth. The company is privately held with undisclosed percentages.
Is BFA Industries publicly traded?
No. BFA Industries is a private venture-backed company with no public listing.
What does BFA stand for?
BFA stands for Beauty For All Industries, the name chosen when the parent company formed in October 2020 to hold IPSY and BoxyCharm.
What does BFA Industries own?
The company operates the IPSY subscription platform, including the Glam Bag, BoxyCharm by IPSY, and Icon Box tiers, plus the Refreshments personal care line.
Who is the CEO of BFA Industries?
Galen C. Smith has been CEO since September 2024. Co-founder Marcelo Camberos serves as chairman.
When was BFA Industries founded?
The company formed in October 2020 when IPSY acquired BoxyCharm for approximately $500 million. Its flagship IPSY business dates to 2011.
Sources & Further Reading
Jobs at BFA Industries
Latest News About BFA Industries
Related Articles About BFA Industries
View more articles
Hospital and Clinic Brand Ownership
HCA Healthcare is the largest for-profit hospital system (190 hospitals, $75.6B revenue). Tenet has 50 hospitals ($21.3B). UHS has 346 behavioral facilities. Fresenius leads dialysis. Explore our database.
Eye Care Brand Ownership: Bausch & Lomb to Alcon
J&J Vision (Acuvue) leads contact lenses at 27-30%. Alcon (Novartis spin-off) holds 25-27%. CooperVision has 22-24%. Bausch + Lomb has 12-15%. EssilorLuxottica dominates lenses at 30.7%. Explore our database.
Dental Brand Ownership Beyond Colgate and Crest
Colgate holds 41.3% global toothpaste share. P&G (Crest, Oral-B) has 14.1%. Haleon (Sensodyne) has 4.4%. Church & Dwight is the only independent at scale. The oral care market is $47.2B. Explore our database.
Related Companies to BFA Industries
View more companies
Great Clips, Inc.
American hair salon franchise company and the world's largest salon brand by location count. 100 percent franchised with over 4,400 salons across the United States and Canada. Privately held and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
1 brand in portfolio
Dr. Bronner's
Family-owned American maker of organic and fair trade Pure-Castile soaps and personal care products, the top-selling natural soap brand in North America.
1 brand in portfolio
Glossier, Inc.
Venture-backed American beauty company operating the Glossier brand. Founded by Emily Weiss in 2014 from the Into The Gloss blog, valued at $1.8 billion.
1 brand in portfolio
Ariat International, Inc.
Privately held maker of the world's largest equestrian footwear and apparel brand, majority-owned by the Fisher family of Gap Inc.
1 brand in portfolio
Cutco Corporation
Privately held Olean, New York manufacturer of CUTCO cutlery and owner of Vector Marketing, its exclusive direct sales distributor.
1 brand in portfolio
Golden Hippo
Employee-owned direct-to-consumer builder of more than 20 health, beauty, and pet brands generating over $600 million annually.
1 brand in portfolio