Glossier receives funding and opens first retail store

By

Kate Dingwall

Published
Dec 1, 2016

Beauty start-up brand Glossier will be opening its first retail location in the near future. Glossier founder Emily Weiss posted an open letter on Glossier’s sister beauty blog today, announcing the next phase for the brand. After securing $24 million in investments, the brand will be releasing a new undisclosed retail location and launching two new product categories.

CEO and founder Emily Weiss said, “This cash infusion will help us see through our vision of Glossier becoming a truly global community. That means launching products in two new categories, opening permanent retail (see photo above—more on that soon), and yes, finally going international. We’ll continue to invest in new technology, because we think every woman should have the ability to be connected through her beauty knowledge, opinions, products, and routine."

The beauty company secured $24 million in investments from San Francisco-based adventure capitalist firm IVP, who previously backed Jessica Alba's best-selling beauty line The Honest Company. This makes one of the largest rounds of funded generated by a women-run start-up in the past several years.

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While its exciting news for the start-up, Weiss made certain to remember where the company came from, "Of course, I have to remind myself that we are just over two years old, and to look at the time it’s taken iconic companies like Estée Lauder, Apple, and Nike to become what they are today. There will be stumbling blocks. But something I repeat to our now 55-plus person team, something I believe in, is that "Glossier is cult, it's not niche," and that's because we believe in the democratization of beauty. Glossier was created not to be for a privileged "some" but for an activated "all"—and we are still early in our journey to fulfill that promise."

Previously, Glossier has opened shops-within-shops at Nasty Gal’s Los Angeles brick-and-mortar store.

Weiss started her career working at Vogue, later leaving to start her own website, Into the Gloss. Into the Gloss started as a website for collecting the beauty tips of models, editors, and other fashion industry insiders. Upset with the lack of day-to-day makeup on the market, Weiss started Glossier.

The brand’s product offering is centered around products for every-day: focusing not on covering up on the face, but light-coverage products that highlight natural beauty. Best-sellers include the highlighting stick and the priming face cleanser.