Brandless is a company based in Utah, the US. It projects itself as one of the world’s fastest-growing omnichannel commerce platforms. The company deals with affordable and quality health and wellness products.
The company’s website states that Brandless was created as a movement against a fundamentally broken consumer system where affordable means low quality, and better-for-you products are generally not accessible, forcing consumers to compromise between what they can afford and what is best for them, their families and planet.
Affordable Wellness
Some of the products under the ambit of Brandless are Ambrosia Collective, Sutera, Zeal Naturals, Product Labs among others. Brandless is engaged in acquiring and partnering with its like-minded CPG brands, fostering customer growth through omni-channel strategies, and leveraging technology to stay ahead of customer transformation. “We focus on using the best ingredients and responsible production, and find partners who share this commitment. Our customers can feel good about their choice to purchase,” states the website of Brandless.
Founded by Ido Leffler and Tina Sharkey in2016, Brandless makes it easier for people to take better care of themselves, their families and the planet by collaborating with quality ingredients, partners, and customers to foster community-driven innovation and validation.
Rebirth of Brandless
Brandless came into being in San Francisco, but it was acquired by Clarke Capital Partners three years later. In February 2020, Brandless announced that it would discontinue its operations, while citing fierce competition and business model inviability in the direct-to-consumer market.
In June 2020, Clarke Capital Partners, based in Utah, teamed up with the Silicon Slopes digital marketing agency, Ikonifi, to acquire the assets of Brandless, Inc. The partnership intended to aggressively relaunch Brandless.com. Soon Brandless was relaunched under the leadership of Clarke Capital Partners.
Funding Matters
On 4th August 2021, Brandless raised $118 million in equity and debt financing, which was one of the largest funding rounds ever to be led by a female CEO at that time. Then Cydni Tetro was the CEO of Brandless.
That investment round was led by Clarke Capital Partners and included other strategic corporate and institutional investors. Keystone National Group extended a senior debt facility. Brandless raised that fund with the objective to accelerate growth and its acquisition of mission-driven digitally-native brands.
On the occasion of that massive funding injection, Cydni Tetro said, “Brandless is transforming commerce by creating influence-as-a-service and democratising access to better-for-you products. By uniting brands with a mission and micro-influencers through technology, we are creating a platform that makes everyone mission-driven and empowers them to be a force for good.”
Of course, that was not the only funding received by Brandless. In July 2018, Brandless announced that it had raised $240 million in Series C funding, led by the SoftBank Vision Fund. Existing investors NEA, Redpoint Ventures, GV, and Sherpa Capital also participated in the round.
“After just one year, we already offer more than 300 proprietary Brandless products and ship to 48 states every day in support of our thriving #Brandlesslife community,” said Tina Sharkey, Co-founder and the then CEO of Brandless on the occasion of that funding led by the SoftBank Vision Fund.As early as November 2016, Brandless raised $16 million in funding led by Redpoint Ventures. Till now Brandless has generated a funding of 407 million USD through six rounds and has attracted 19 institutional investors. Only 24th July 2017, Brandless generated 32 million USD in Series B funding from New Enterprise Associates, Redpoint Ventures and three other investors.
