Beauty startup Birchbox said Monday it raised $60 million in a Series B round led by Viking Global Investors, with a raft of others participating.
The New York company made its initial splash shipping monthly shipments of beauty and grooming product samples to subscribers. Of late, though, Birchbox has trumpeted the growth of its e-commerce operations.
Co-CEO Katia Beauchamp says Birchbox has been in heads-down mode lately to scale up operations. She believes her company can be a significant part of changing trends in online shopping when it comes to beauty and grooming products. “We decided it was important to raise money to build on what we’re seeing,” she says, “with brands making plans for us in their budgets and consumers who are shifting more of their time and spend[ing] to Birchbox.”
The subscription-model scene has gotten crowded with companies such as BarkBox (no relation to Birchbox), Dollar Shave Club, and NatureBox (also no relation), all shipping their respective goods each month to customers. As the cacophony rises in this sector, Birchbox has been exploring ways to differentiate and remain competitive. The company has already taken on partnerships with other types of businesses, such as JetBlue Airways, to make sure the products it sells get in front of consumers.
The company said its latest funding will go towards new hires—particularly for its Birchbox Man segment—as well as marketing efforts and updates to its mobile app. Beauchamp says the crew working on Birchbox Man has been expanding rapidly to meet demand. “We’ve made a lot of hires in the last four months, doubling the size of the team,” she says.
Other backers in the Series B round include Accel Partners, Comcast Ventures, Aspect Partners, First Round Capital, Slow Ventures, TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC Corp., Consigliere Brand Capital, Glynn Capital, Red Swan Ventures, and Drop.io CEO Sam Lessin.
