The Venture Codex

Participated · Seed · Aug 2015

Scentbird operates a monthly subscription service allowing members to choose from over 500 designer and niche men’s, women’s, and unisex fragrances. The company has expanded beyond samples, launching a namesake line of personal care and home fragrance products. Scentbird has scaled rapidly, growing from roughly 400 subscribers to over 250,000 subscribers across the United States. Management said proceeds will be used to accelerate product innovation and market expansion, with added focus on consumer experience and hiring new talent. The founding team includes CEO Mariya Nurislamova, COO Sergei Gusev, CTO Andrei Rebrov, and CMO Rachel ten Brink. The business emphasizes product selection and customer experience as core drivers of growth. Scentbird operates a subscription service that delivers 30-day samples from a catalog of more than 450 fragrances for $14.95 per month, encouraging users to build scent profiles and leave reviews. The company has expanded beyond subscriptions with options to buy individual 8ml cartridges without a subscription and immediate shipping, plus gift boxes and a full-size purchase option with a site discount. It reports a $6 million run rate and has shipped more than 300,000 samples since launching at the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator in 2014. Scentbird aims to continue building out product offerings from its platform and broaden how customers discover and buy fragrances. The service emphasizes brand-name fragrances versus more artisanal competitors. Scentbird operates a subscription service for designer perfume and cologne samples sold online. The company was accepted into the latest Y Combinator accelerator batch. It recently launched Scentbird Men, a cologne-sample subscription priced at $15, the same as its women's offering. Founder Maria Nurislamova reported growth to 8,000 active subscribers over the past five months, up from fewer than 100 customers in September 2014. Scentbird is targeting the US market with a cited potential audience of 63 million women. The startup has attracted outside financing, including a $1M financing involving Y Combinator, 500 Startups, Dominion Capital and several business angels, plus a $650K investment from TMT Investments.

Participated · Seed · Apr 2015

TripleMint, founded in 2013 by Yale classmates David Walker and Philip Lang, is a New York City residential real estate brokerage. The platform is powered by a proprietary algorithm that allows members to anticipate and capitalize on future market activity and to match prospective buyers and sellers. Its business model rewards agents with client satisfaction-based bonuses and commissions to incentivize improved service and reduce sales pressure. The company closed a $4.5M Series A and has raised over $7M in total funding. TripleMint intends to use the Series A proceeds to continue expanding in metropolitan areas. TripleMint is a New York City startup that helps people buy, sell and rent apartments through a broker-driven platform. The product lets prospective buyers and renters search local broker databases and then use a single TripleMint broker to tour multiple listings. Its brokers are full-time employees with benefits and equity and receive bonuses tied to customer satisfaction rather than straight commission. TripleMint also offers a concierge moving service with discounts from local providers and will donate a portion of transaction revenue to Rebuilding Together NYC. The company rebranded from Suitey to TripleMint to signal expanded services and a focus on apartment and service quality. TripleMint has raised $1.65M in seed funding and currently operates in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens with plans to expand.