Blanka takes new personal care brands to market “under an hour,” netting US$2M in seed funding

24 Aug 2023 --- Blanka, a North American private label beauty and wellness platform, announced today it has closed a US$2 million seed funding round. Through its service, the company claims a new beauty brand can be launched in “under an hour for less than US$200.” It does so by doing away with high manufacturing minimums, long production lead times and analog order forms.

Blanka’s platform is a “one-stop-shop” for product procurement, personalization and fulfillment, marketed amid the economic crisis and growing competition to commercial entry within highly-populated beauty industry. 

The company supports established and nascent brands by sourcing and customizing high-quality North American-made beauty and wellness products.

“The industry has seen a fundamental shift in the last decade, from being owned by a few global players toward a more diverse set of direct-to-consumer brands. Independent brands have now captured more than 25% of the global beauty industry,” says Kaylee Astle, co-founder and CEO of Blanka, who experienced the challenges of trying to launch her beauty brand.

“This has created a wave of entrepreneurs, content creators and beauty professionals all hungry to enter the market with their brand, but there hasn’t been anything to support them – until now.”

Blanka raises two million dollars in funding to help beauty companies have a platform for their products (Image credit: Blanka).Evolving during economic cycles
The beauty industry is already saturated and during the current global economic crisis, a fair assumption would be less sales of products.

However, the “lipstick index” theory hypothesizes beauty sales rise when the economy goes down. The assumed reason is that when people can’t afford luxury clothing, they can afford makeup, so that is where they turn.

“The beauty industry continues to evolve, but one thing that has remained constant is the market’s exponential growth over the years, even amid economic cycles. The success of this fundraising round, especially in this market, underscores that the beauty industry is bulletproof,” says Glenn Baptiste, former L’Oréal executive and advisor to Blanka.

“Blanka’s platform will unlock faster innovation for brands of all sizes. I’m excited about what’s to come – for both Blanka and what this means for the beauty industry broadly.”

Disjointed beauty industry
The two million dollar investment comes after 12-months of growth for Blanka, which has thousands of brands subscribed to the platform.

The round was led by Dundee Venture Capital, with participation from Storytime Capital, Disruption Ventures and other notable investors, including Fatima Yusuf, a former executive at Shopify, and Manica Blain, a consumer-focused investor and founder of Top Knot Ventures. Investor in Blanka says the beauty industry is disjointed despite its success. 

“The beauty industry may be massive and well-established, but it is still shockingly disjointed and inefficient. Blanka is paving the way for the industry’s future,” explains Catherine Williams, partner at Dundee Venture Capital.

“By dramatically reducing the barrier to entry for independent brands, Blanka is set to transform the consumer landscape. We are excited to be a part of that journey.”

Neil Grunberg, managing partner at Storytime Capital, adds: “As we learned more about the business, it was clear that Blanka was a great fit to Storytime’s thesis of supporting early-stage companies that can have a massive impact on the future of work.”

Helping smaller brands
Established industry players are paying increasing attention to start-ups entering the space, as shown by Sephora’s recent partnership with TikTok and Digitas, to help founder-led beauty brands navigate the world of creator content.

The Sephora x TikTok Incubator Program connects TikTok creators to “best-in-class” beauty brands from Sephora’s Accelerate program, helping them learn impactful social content strategies through educational training modules.

“Our partnership with Sephora and Digitas aims to educate brands on the importance of a DEI-first approach to creator partnerships. Together, we are building a framework that celebrates diversity and intersectionality, ensuring that every brand can accelerate their growth and success on TikTok through inclusive and impactful storytelling,” said Soniya Monga, head of US Agency Partnerships, TikTok.

By Sabine Waldeck