Get All Access for $5/mo

Jessica Alba's Honest Company Is Reportedly a $1.7 Billion Company Now The consumer goods company's value has gone up nearly 50 percent since its funding round a year ago, reports The Wall Street Journal.

By Laura Entis

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

s_bukley / Shutterstock

It's been a busy summer for The Honest Company, the eco-friendly consumer goods startup co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, which made headlines last month due to allegations that its sunscreen was not effective.

The company is in the news again, this time not over photos of burnt skin, but a monster $100 million funding round that values the company at $1.7 billion, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The company currently sells more than 75 percent of its products online, but is working to beef up the store-disruption arm of its business at chains such as Target, according to the outlet. It has said that its sales last year were $170, up from $60 million in 2013.

Related: How Reese Witherspoon's New Lifestyle Brand Stacks Up Against Goop, Honest and Preserve

In a shifting sea of startups founded by celebrities (see: Tidal), Alba's venture has illustrated its staying power. This latest funding round raises the company's value by nearly 50 percent since last summer, when it raised $60 million at a $1 billion valuation.

As with many high-profile co-founders, Alba has found herself at the center of public controversy. Last month, photos of burnt skin – purportedly showing that The Honest Company's SPF 30 sunscreen did not work – went viral. Alba responded with a statement that appeared to try and quash the validity of the photos, writing that not only was the product tested by a third independent party, but "the number of complaints received on our own website about our Sunscreen Lotion constitute less than one half of one percent of all units actually sold at honest.com."

Related: 3 Things Jessica Alba's Honest Company Must Do to Stop Its Brand From Burning

Laura Entis is a reporter for Fortune.com's Venture section.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

These Are the Top Tech Skills Employers Want the Most, According to a New Examination of 24,000 Job Listings

Some tech skills are more in demand than others. Here are the top 10 that employers are looking for right now.

Side Hustle

The Side Hustle She Worked on in a Local Starbucks 'Went From Nothing to $1 Million.' Now It Will Make Over $30 Million This Year.

Melinda Spigel transformed a simple jewelry-making hobby into a lucrative full-time business with multimillion-dollar annual sales.

Starting a Business

How to Find the Right Programmers: A Brief Guideline for Startup Founders

For startup founders under a plethora of challenges like timing, investors and changing market demand, it is extremely hard to hire programmers who can deliver.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Business News

Your Old Apple AirPods Might Be Able to Replace Expensive Hearing Aids — Here's How

Apple is introducing new software to its existing AirPods Pro 2 — for free.

Starting a Business

From Kyrgyzstan to the U.S. — 6 Ways I Turned My Vision into a Thriving Business Overseas

From a small tech startup overseas to a growing U.S. job board software leader, here's how I turned my vision into a successful reality, one step at a time.