| Kippy Personalized Beauty Discovery, Inc. | |
| Industry: | Beauty/Cosmetics |
| Founders: | Michelle Phan Marcelo Camberos Jennifer Jaconetti Goldfarb |
| Founded: | 2011 |
| Hq Location: | San Mateo, California, U.S. |
IPSY is a beauty membership service.
IPSY was co-founded in 2011 by YouTube beauty vlogger Michelle Phan, Marcelo Camberos, who joined the company as CEO from Funny or Die, and Jennifer Jaconetti Goldfarb, who joined from Bare Escentuals. The company's initial business model was tested in a beta site called myglam.com in December 2011 before launching to the public in September 2012 as ipsy.com.
In May 2013, IPSY launched its first live event, Generation Beauty—an annual beauty convention where cosmetics companies, bloggers, and the public could meet.[1] By February 2016, the company had 10,000 vloggers who contributed one or two videos a month dedicated to the subscription service. At the time, Goldfarb stated, "There are hundreds if not millions of beauty content creators online. We want all of them."[2] [3]
In May 2015, IPSY launched Open Studios, a video production co-working space in Santa Monica, California, for nano creators and vloggers associated with the brand. At the studio, creators were provided equipment to produce content for their social media platforms and receive mentoring.[4]
In September 2015, IPSY raised a $100 million Series B round of funding from TPG Growth and Sherpa Capital and the company was valued at about $800M; before then, it had raised about $3M in seed and Series A funding.[5]
In September 2017, IPSY launched e-commerce to offer beauty deals to its subscribers. In 2018, IPSY expanded its portfolio to two memberships with the introduction of a full-size program called Glam Bag Plus (now called BoxyCharm). In 2019, IPSY added Glam Bag Ultimate, a program featuring both full-size products and deluxe samples. The program has since evolved into a quarterly upgrade called Icon Box, featuring full-size, celebrity-curated products.
IPSY launched Refreshments in 2020, a line of vegan, cruelty-free personal care products that are free of parabens, phthalates, and sulfates. The products are also formulated without gluten and nut allergens, and are clinically, allergy, and dermatologist-tested.
In 2020, IPSY acquired BoxyCharm, the largest provider of subscriptions for full-size beauty products, but continued to operate the two businesses separately.[6]
The two brands officially came together in 2023 under the IPSY umbrella.