Back in April, we broke the news that Birchbox was raising a big round led by Accel Partners.
Today the news finally broke: the company that delivers makeup to users' doorsteps every month raised a $10.5 million Series A round.
It was led by Accel Partners along with First Round Capital, Consigliere, Harrison Metal, Lerer Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Stanford University Endowment, Sam Lessin, Gary Vaynerchuck, Dave Morin, and Andy Dunn.
Hayley Barna and Katia Beauchamp launched Birchbox last year. It has 45,000 customers. All users pay either $10 per month or $110 per year to receive a monthly box of cosmetics.
It's easy to see how the company can scale. If you assume every member paid $10 in July, then Birchbox generated $450,000 in just that month. ShoeDazzle, Kim Kardashian's accessories at your doorstep company, has roughly 3 million members; many of them pay $40 per month for the service. That's a whole lot of cash.
A slew of male-targeted competitors have launched too. Guyhaus delivers monthly necessities (deodorant, toothpaste, shaving cream) to your house. ManPacks sends men monthly underwear and socks.
Birchbox will use its fresh cash to hire people and build out the product. It may also expand to other categories.
