| Brandless | |
| Type: | Private |
| Industry: | Consumer packaged goods (CPG), grocery |
| Founders: | Ido Leffler Tina Sharkey |
| Location City: | Draper, Utah |
| Area Served: | United States |
| Key People: | Tiffany Vail, CEOJeff Lind, COOMatt Durham, President |
| Products: | Food Beauty Personal care Housewares |
| Num Employees: | 100 (2021) |
| Location Country: | United States |
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.
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.[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.[16]
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]
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]