Brandless
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Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Consumer packaged goods (CPG), grocery |
Founded | 2016 |
Founders | Ido Leffler Tina Sharkey |
Headquarters | Draper, Utah , United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Tiffany Vail, CEO
Jeff Lind, COO Matt Durham, President |
Products | Food Beauty Personal care Housewares |
Number of employees | 100 (2021) |
Website | brandless |
Brandless is an American e-commerce company that manufactures and sells products under its own label led by Tiffany Vail as CEO.[1]
Brandless was founded by Ido Leffler and Tina Sharkey, it launched in July 2017.[2][3][4]
On February 10, 2020, the company confirmed it would cease operations.[5] The assets of Brandless were purchased in June 2020 by Clarke Capital Partners and Ikonifi.[6] Brandless subsequently relaunched in the summer of 2020. The company raised $118 million in August 2021.
History
[edit]Tina Sharkey and Ido Leffler met while living in Mill Valley, California. Sharkey, the founder of iVillage and the former CEO of BabyCenter, had a background in online communities, and Leffler, the founder of several companies, including Yes To, Inc. and Yoobi, had experience in consumer products.[3]
In mid-2016, Sharkey resigned from her position as CEO of Sherpa Foundry to become CEO of Brandless, with Leffler serving as its chairman.[7] The company raised $16 million in funding led by Redpoint Ventures in November 2016,[8] and at launch had received a total of $50 million in venture capital from New Enterprise Associates, Google Ventures, and others.[3]
In 2018, the company launched a pop-up store in Los Angeles in May.[9] Brandless launched a second, larger pop-up store in New York in October 2018.[10]
In May 2019, Brandless raised $240 million as a part of its series C funding round.[11] Soon after, Tina Sharkey stepped down as CEO after friction between her and lead investor SoftBank Vision Fund.[12]
In February 2020, Brandless announced that it would cease operations,[13] citing fierce competition and business model inviability in the direct-to-consumer market. The business laid off 70 staff members (about 90% of the operation at the time) with the remaining employees managing open orders.[14]
The assets of Brandless were purchased in June 2020 by Onward Partners, LLC, a company formed by Clarke Capital Partners and Ikonifi.[6][15] Brandless relaunched under the leadership of Clarke Capital Partners, a family office based in Silicon Slopes, Utah. The company raised $118 million in debt and equity in August 2021, one of the largest funding rounds ever to be led by a female CEO.[6][16]
Business model
[edit]Brandless was based in San Francisco, California, and operated an additional facility in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It marketed its foods as GMO-free, its health and beauty items as cruelty-free, and paper products as adhering to sustainable forestry practices.[1] Products' labels consist of only a white box with the product's name and two to five descriptors, such as organic, kosher, or gluten-free.[17] Brandless is a brand of its own.[18]
The company operated a direct-to-consumer model.[8] Initially, Brandless priced single items at $3, or multiple items for $3 total.[3][19][20] That policy changed in January 2019 and higher-priced products were offered.[21]
In 2019, Brandless began to offer an optional subscription service to its customers.[22] Under the new management, the business model moved to a mission-driven, omni-channel e-commerce platform making acquisitions of like-minded companies to plug into Brandless growth engine.[23]
Awards and recognition
[edit]In February 2018, Brandless received the Best NewCo of the Year award from NewCo Honors for disrupting retail markets and donating 250,000 meals to Feeding America.[24] Additionally, it was awarded "StartUp of the Year" by Ad Age in 2018[25] and was also awarded one of "The World's Most Innovative Companies in Retail" by Fast Company in 2019.[26]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Meyer, Zlata (July 14, 2017). "What does $3 buy you? On this website, everything". USA Today. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
- ^ Terlep, Sharon (July 12, 2017). "Brandless Fights Big Brands with $3 Pricing". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
- ^ a b c d Feldman, Amy (July 11, 2017). "Brandless Hopes To Shake Up Consumer Products With Direct-To-Consumer Basics For $3". Forbes. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
- ^ "Co-founders of online grocer Brandless on their mission to make shopping simpler". CBS This Morning. July 13, 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
- ^ "SoftBank-backed Brandless to lay off staff, shutter operations". CNBC Retail. February 10, 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ a b c "Brandless Closes $118 Million Round of Funding to Drive Acquisitions and Growth". Silicon Slopes Newsroom. 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ Anzilotti, Eillie (July 13, 2017). "This New Site Sells Food And Household Essentials–All For $3 Or Less". Fast Company. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
- ^ a b Rao, Leena (December 7, 2016). "Exclusive: Investors Bet on Brandless as the Next Procter and Gamble for Millennials". Fortune. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- ^ "Discount start-up launches first pop-up—with a twist | Chain Store Age". Chain Store Age. 2018-04-17. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
- ^ Crook, Jordan (October 2018). "Brandless is launching a pop-up shop in NYC". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ^ htc (2019-05-30). "Brandless Receives $240 Million In Series C Funding Round, Enabling Continued Growth For The E-Commerce Startup". HiTechChronicle. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
- ^ Bernard, Zoë (2019-06-19). "Inside the Turmoil at SoftBank-Backed Brandless". The Information. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
- ^ Loizos, Connie (2020-02-10). "SoftBank-backed Brandless shuts its doors for good". Techcrunch. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
- ^ Dumont, Jessica (2020-02-10). "Brandless shuts down". Grocery Drive. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
- ^ Pattanayak, Komal (2020-12-12). "Startup Failure Series Case Study: Part 5". VCBay News. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
- ^ Raymond, Art (2021-08-04). "Utah's Brandless ready to grow e-commerce biz with $118 million in new funding". Deseret News. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ Schwab, Katharine (July 14, 2017). "Lessons On Branding From A Company That Has No Brand". Fast Company Design. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- ^ Pomranz, Mike (July 12, 2017). "Online Grocery Store 'Brandless' Sells Everything for $3". Food and Wine. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ Peterson, Laurie (September 5, 2017). "Interview with Tina Sharkey, CEO and Co-Founder of Brandless". Whole Foods Magazine. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- ^ "Startup Aims to Offer Savings by Ditching Brands for Good". NBC News 2. September 3, 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- ^ Ruff, Corinne (March 20, 2019). "Brandless expands health and wellness assortment". Retail Dive. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ^ Ruff, Corinne (January 17, 2019). "BRIEF Brandless launches subscription option". Retail Dive. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ^ "Brandless Closes $118 Million Round of Funding to Drive Acquisitions and Growth". Silicon Slopes Newsroom. 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ "2018's Most Inspiring Companies: The NewCo Honors Award Recipients". NewCo Shift. 2018-02-27. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
- ^ "Ad Age Announces The Winners Of The 2018 Creativity Awards". Ad Age. March 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ^ "2019 The World's Most Innovative Companies". Fast Company. January 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
External links
[edit]- Companies based in San Francisco
- 2016 establishments in California
- 2020 disestablishments in California
- American companies established in 2016
- Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Defunct online companies of the United States
- Food retailing
- GV companies
- Internet properties established in 2016
- Internet properties disestablished in 2020
- Online retailers of the United States
- Retail companies established in 2016
- Retail companies disestablished in 2020
- Privately held companies based in California
- Retail companies established in 2020