Actress Eva Longoria is launching a cookware label with Heyday in the e-commerce company’s first celebrity partnership as it pushes for investment in new consumer brands to be sold on Amazon.com’s marketplace Inc.
The brand, called Risa, will debut Nov. 1 with a selection of multi-purpose, non-toxic pots, pans and kitchen accessories in three colors, including a $225 set. Longoria, who rose to fame on the 2000s comedy-drama series “Desperate Housewives,” is a co-founder and will have a stake in the business. Additional financial terms were not disclosed.
Heyday raised $555 million in funding by 2021 to acquire, start and grow consumer brands to sell on Amazon’s marketplace. Heyday was valued at more than $1 billion in that round, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information.
The San Francisco-based company’s management sees the industry as a new digital version of consumer packaged goods conglomerates such as Procter & Gamble Co. or Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc. Investors include Raine Group, General Catalyst and PremjiInvest.
CEO Sebastian Rymarz said Heyday currently has 20 brands on the market and focuses on three product categories: home, personal care and outdoor. An internal team courts entrepreneurs to gauge interest and find out who might be a good match as a partner.
“We’re building these forays with entrepreneurs, partnering to incubate brands and acquire brands,” Rymarz said in an interview.
Celebrities are getting more involved in the brands they put their name to, and Longoria has been adding new projects in recent years. In 2020, she joined Natalie Portman as co-owner of Los Angeles’ new National Women’s Soccer League franchise, Angel City FC, and last year started a tequila brand, Casa Del Sol.
“The kitchenware just seemed so natural for the space I’m in,” Longoria said in an interview. She has built a significant following in the culinary industry since writing her first cookbook more than a decade ago and will host an upcoming travel and food show on CNN. “Everyone knows I’m the biggest foodie.”
On cookware, Longoria said she’s been approached in the past by other suitors who wanted to license her name and likeness for potential lines, but all the offers were just to “slap my name on something.” The agreement with Heyday allowed him to enter the design process.
“In cookware and cookware there’s always a new gadget, a new thing, a new fad,” Longoria said. “I would love to grow the brand with the ideas of functionality and safety.”
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