Ghost, Gucci, and Celebrity Investors
Greetings, Pulse Subscribers!
Football’s back, and win or lose, Pulse will continue to bring you the biggest retail news with every issue!
Here’s the agenda:
Influencers in the checkout line
A-list for a Series A
Breaking (into) China
Ghost reappears!
Gucci’s commitment to inclusion
Don’t picture it, *get* a picture of it!
Let’s go!
Startup Deals
TikTok Snacks | Depending on your age (or the age of your kids), you might have heard of the D’Amelio family. With over 400 million combined followers on TikTok (and daughter Charli boasting the second-most-followed account of anyone on the app), the D’Amelios have gone from influencers to a brand of their own. D’Amelio Brands, to be specific. D’Amelio Brands plans to introduce a new snack line called Be Happy Snacks, but what makes this move newsworthy is that, unlike their shoe brand, which was sold direct to consumers, the family has teamed with an unnamed large retailer to sell their snack creations. As online influencers gain more, well, influence in the world at large, look for more creative “x retailer” crossovers and collaborations to come. D’Amelio Brands recently raised $5 million in new funding at a valuation of $100 million.
Celebrity Investors | Having a few celebs in your funding round is always good for exposure, but SkinnyDipped’s Series A is ridiculous. It features musicians like Post Malone, Becky G, and Kaskade; actors like Amy Schumer, Mark Wahlberg, and Tan France; and athletes like Kevin Durant, Odell Beckham Jr., and Frances Tiafoe. So what’s bringing all these famous faces together? Lightly dipped nuts and an aim to provide better-for-you snacks to the consumer. With flavors that include dark chocolate caramel, peanut butter and jelly, and unicorn birthday cake, SkinnyDipped is showing that good-for-you can also be delicious. While available DTC, SkinnyDipped is committed to its retail distribution strategy, with plans to add new partners like Costco and Publix to its existing network of more than 25,000 retail stores nationwide, including Target, Walmart, and Kroger. In total, SkinnyDipped’s star-studded Series A landed the startup $12 million.
Indie Marketplace | Breaking into new markets can be a challenge for anyone, and that’s doubly true for independent brands. Markato is designed to help brands establish an e-commerce presence in one of the largest markets in the world: China. This cross-border marketplace, specifically focused on independent brands, helps them manage their Asia wholesale operations in one place. For retailers, Markato offers personalized product recommendations, making it easier to discover new brands and buy them at wholesale prices by aggregating volume. With flexible payment options and risk-mitigating features like free returns, Markato has already landed over 200 brands, 80% of which were not previously available in Asia. Markato recently raised $5 million in seed funding led by blue-chip investor Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Excess Inventory Redux | Last August, we shined a spotlight on Ghost, a B2B marketplace for retailers and brands to discreetly buy, sell, and ship excess inventory. (Emphasis on the “discreetly” piece, which allows brands to monetize excess inventory without harming their reputation.) Things have been happening at Ghost, so we’re back with an update. In the last year, Ghost has doubled its team and grown its membership base to over 1,000 members. This has led to the marketplace increasing in size by 500%, while its year-over-year gross merchandise value run rate has grown over ten times. All that to say, Ghost is doing what it can to decrease the $500 billion wasted in overproduction each year. With a recently closed $30 million Series B led by Cathay Innovation, Ghost has plans to expand beyond the US in the near future.
Essential Reads
While brands and retailers often talk about the importance of diversity and inclusion, Gucci has truly embraced these principles. This essential read shows how Gucci has spent the past several years advancing disability inclusion and expanding accessibility both in its corporate offices and in its stores. Not only was this its second year to be named a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” by the Disability Equality Index, but Gucci also achieved the highest possible score of 100, solidifying its position as an industry leader. Gucci has also partnered with Aria, a visual interpreting service that provides blind and low-vision customers with access to visual interpreters via an app, so everyone can get the full Gucci experience.
Learn more about Gucci’s commitment to inclusion here.
Why imagine how your new furniture would look in your home when you can actually see it? That’s the idea behind Decorify by Wayfair, announced in this essential read. Like other similar initiatives, Decorify allows users to upload a picture of their space and see a visual rendering, but what sets it apart is the use of … surprise, surprise … generative AI! Harnessing the technology that seems to be everywhere, users can create a shoppable, photorealistic image of their space with the furniture of their choosing in it. And best of all, users don’t have to select individual pieces; Decorify can redesign the entire room in “midcentury modern,” “industrial,” “bohemian,” and more to find the exact style the user is after.
Learn more about Decorify here.