Blanka has closed an oversubscribed USD 2 million seed funding spherical led by Dundee Enterprise Capital, with participation from Storytime Capital, Disruption Ventures and different notable traders together with Fatima Yusuf, former govt at Shopify, and Manica Blain, a consumer-focused investor and Founding father of High Knot Ventures.
Based in 2021 by Kaylee Astle, Doug Lengthy, and Adam Chuntz, the North American personal label magnificence and wellness platform goals to energy and speed up the disruption of the sweetness and wellness business by taking away excessive manufacturing minimums, lengthy manufacturing lead instances, and analogue order types. The corporate guarantees that new magnificence manufacturers can debut available on the market in beneath an hour, with just some clicks and for lower than USD 200.
Out there to anybody with an concept
“The business has seen a basic shift within the final decade, from being owned by a number of world gamers in the direction of a extra numerous set of direct-to-consumer manufacturers. Unbiased manufacturers have now captured greater than 25% of the worldwide magnificence business,” says Kaylee Astle, Co-founder and CEO of Blanka, who skilled the challenges of attempting to launch her personal magnificence model. “This has created a wave of entrepreneurs, content material creators and sweetness professionals all hungry to enter the market with their very own model, however there hasn’t been something to help them – till now.”
Out there to anybody with an concept, Blanka’s platform is a one-stop-shop, from product procurement, to personalization, all the best way to achievement. Supporting each established and nascent manufacturers, Blanka sources and customizes North American-made magnificence and wellness merchandise.
“The wonder business continues to evolve, however one factor that has remained fixed is the market’s exponential development through the years, even amidst financial cycles. The success of this fundraising spherical, particularly on this market, underscores that the sweetness business is bulletproof,” mentioned Glenn Baptiste, former L’Oréal govt and advisor to Blanka. “Blanka’s platform will unlock sooner innovation for manufacturers in any respect sizes. I’m enthusiastic about what’s to return – for each Blanka and what this implies for the sweetness business broadly.”
Curated and customizable magnificence merchandise
Blanka claims to have subscribed hundreds of manufacturers inside “12 months of regular development” fueled solely by natural advertising and strategic integrations with companions like Shopify. The platform curates a big collection of North American-made vegan and cruelty-free magnificence merchandise — together with lipsticks, skincare, forehead kits, and extra — that may be custom-made with the model’s brand. Blanka handles branding, achievement and transport to supply a right away answer that comes with zero minimums.
“Kaylee’s expertise in and round launching manufacturers has uniquely positioned their staff to develop a platform that’s demonstrating spectacular and sustained development,” mentioned Neil Grunberg, Managing Companion at Storytime Capital. “As we discovered extra in regards to the enterprise, it was clear that Blanka was an awesome match to Storytime’s thesis of supporting early-stage corporations that may have an enormous impression on the way forward for work.”
“The wonder business could also be large and well-established, however it’s nonetheless shockingly disjointed and inefficient. Blanka is paving the best way for the way forward for the business,” explains Catherine Williams, Companion at Dundee Enterprise Capital. “By dramatically decreasing the barrier to entry for unbiased manufacturers, Blanka is about to remodel the panorama for shoppers. We’re actually excited to be part of that journey.”
