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February 2023 FirstLook Brands
Highlights From Our February Box, Founder Pro Tips, and more.
FirstLook
June 18, 2023
Welcome to our 102 new subscribers since our last newsletter! Enjoy and please share with friends :)
Kia Ora! ("Hi" in Maori, native language of New Zealand)
Happy Fathers Day everyone! We are back after a too-many-days hiatus from our last newsletter. I know you were probably losing sleep wondering “When the f%ck is this next FirstLook newsletter going to drop?!”
Frustrating, I know, but I have a legitimate excuse. I got married to my beautiful wife, Michele (who has quite the collection of clothes on Depop, of which you should buy 🙂).
Since I’m drowning these days, I will keep this short and let you instead dive into all the amazing traction and wins FirstLook Founders have been racking up lately below.
Before you jump, our Founder Horror Stories Newsletter is coming together. Subscribe so you don’t miss the first issue!
FirstLook Alumni Brands MAKING MOVES 🔥
Beauty + Skincare 💫
Congrats to 4AM who launched at Urban Outfitters last week, will be launching at Revolve later this month, and are finalists in Tower28's Clean Beauty Summer School!
Beverage 💦
FULwater has launched in SoCal including in Bristol Farms, Erewhon, and with LA Distribution
Pricklee just launched nationwide at Sprouts!
Studio TBD expanded their distribution network to +130 retail locations, launched a hemp THC version of their beverage products on their new e-commerce platform tbdshop.io, and signed a partnership with a Texas-based alcohol distributor in June!
Food 😋
Daily Crunch is now Kosher and Upcycled certified!
Oat Haus is now in 1500 Target stores!
Pulp Pantry successfully closed their Seed round from investors including Branch Venture Group, 37 Angels, and Roya Capital, among others!
GoNanas recently launched in Whole Foods nationwide, just shipped to Target for their nationwide rollout, and were accepted into Meijer!
tbh is now live in Publix at all 1,300 locations across the Southeast!
Joydays closed an oversubscribed Seed round, and were recently featured in Oprah Daily!
OffLimits just launched FLUF n PUF Pancake & Vegan Vanilla Marshmallow Cereal. A never-before-made flavor & the moodiest OffLimits mascots yet, available at Sprouts and online!
Peaceful Fruits is launching in 800 TJ Maxx / Marshalls stores!
IQBar are now in three Costco regions: LA + Northeast + Southeast, and are on pace for 100%+ YoY growth!
After a sold out $1m+ round, AKUA is back on Republic with its second crowdfund campaign to support its new partnership with the world's most well known ocean-based celebrity, SpongeBob SquarePants!
Renewal Mill launched a 3rd upcycled ingredient, Upcycled White Corn Flour!
AWSM Sauce won 1st place(!) in the Dieline Awards for spice, oils, & sauces category!
True Made Foods won the inaugural Pitch Slam at NielsenIQ's Consumer 360 Conference last week!
Mezcla recently adds Federico Muyshondt (CEO of BODYARMOR, ex-CCO of Chobani) and Steve Platt (CEO of BrightFarms, ex-CEO of Icelandic Provisions) to their Advisory Board!
Home Goods 🫧
ettitude launched its revolutionary vegan cashmere throw blanket. It feels just as cozy, but saves 80% of water and 82% of CO2 vs. regular cashmere!
EQUO was featured in Amazon's Seller Success Story covering how Marina Tran-Vu, Founder and CEO, started the brand and found success on the platform!
Personal Care / Wellness 🫶
SWAIR was among the 20 winners out of 6500 applicants to receive a grant and year-long mentorship from IFundWomen & Botox Cosmetic!
WD/2018 by A. N. OTHER was included on The 22 Best Perfumes for Women of 2023 (And All Time) by Byrdie along with some of the most iconic cult brands!
Gwella recently launched in Walmart Canada online, sold out in Urban Outfitters, and filmed for a show considered the ‘Shark Tank of Canada’!
The Feel Good Lab recently launched on QVC and aired in studio this past Sunday!
Alcohol 🍺
Rupee Beer continues its growth with the launch of their anticipated new Mango Wheat Ale brewed by the founder of iconic Pumpkinhead Beer!
NOCA’s TooTurntTea (celebrity collaboration with TooTurntTony) generated 150M+ views to date and continues to gain momentum, rising to the rank of the #5 Best Dollar-Generating SKU in total U.S. liquor, in recent weeks!
Supplements 💪
Wellious was included in the “Best Vegan Protein Powders Around” article by Woman's World (Publisher w/ 2 Million Visitors a month!)!
Tonic Health launches the first range of no added sugar, no sweetener vitamin gummies into Walmart Stores for adults and kids!
Ketone-IQ celebrated its first 60 days in national grocery chain Sprouts, and the data shows — they are at top 10% velocity in the functional wellness shot category (source: SPINS).
Tech ⌚
Kara Water makes it on the Today Show and has begun shipping product!
Founder Pro Tip of the Month 💡
Who should send the meeting invite? The dreaded situation we all find ourselves in.
Personally I always say it right away in an email that I’ll “pop an invite over.” It’s so awkward when two people talk about and settle on a time…and then the mystery comes in of who will send the invite. And then there is a weird psychology game of who thinks they’re more important, and thus the lesser person should send the invite.
SO MF DUMB. That said, be the person who sends the invite, and mention it early. The other person may feel flattered, great, but it’s you who’s setting the tone and are in control.
Did a friend forward you this email, and now you want to join?
February Box Brands 🚀
Investors: 39 → Apply Here | Brands: 7 → Apply Here | Intros: 42
Are you an investor interested to learn more about the below brands? Email [email protected]
Good Feels
Founded by Jason Reposa | Site + IG | 📍 Medway, MA
What made them stand out: I like how Good Feels owns a lot of their own manufacturing. Puts them in control to test, learn, and move faster while preserving margin. Their tinctures are well developed to be fast acting, as are their drinks! This solves the #1 problem users have where they take more because they aren’t feeling anything yet (we’ve all heard those stories!). Lastly, Jason has quite a follower base to mobilize (while reducing CAC) via his cannabis focused newsletter- Jason Highlights.
Helix Hair Labs
Founded by Rebecca Allen & Carly Stapleton | Site + TikTok | 📍 New York, NY
What made them stand out: Carly and Rebecca are 2x founders, both having found a lot of success with their previous companies. This gives them a big head start in avoiding mistakes while moving faster. I was also super impressed by the investors backing them including Precursor Ventures, Gaingels, Debut Capital, Sku’d Ventures, Cambridge Way Ventures, and Sweet Spot Capital among so many other prolific angel investors.
Recent News: HHL launched on Thirteen Lune and received it's first PO from Urban Outfitters!
Oat Haus
Founded by Ali Bonar, Eric Katz, & Ari Schraer | Site + IG + TikTok | 📍 Philadelphia, PA
What made them stand out: Oat Haus owns their own manufacturing out of Philly, which is a huge advantage to test and learn quicker while boosting margins. What really stuck out for me, however, was their ability to reach $5M LTM revenue, PROFITABLY, while only raising $600K total to get there. That speaks volumes to their work ethic, creativity, and ability to work efficiently. To top things off, their granola butters are crazy addicting.
Ponto Footwear
Founded by Aaron Roubitchek, Joseph Marquis, & Lanna Lottman | Site + IG + TikTok | 📍 San Diego, CA / New York, NY
What made them stand out: The Ponto team is persistent, to say the least. They originally went through FirstLook in August 2021, and have continued to push forward. They were raising another round, asked if they could jump in, and it was an easy choice for me having watched them grow. Things turned out well for them as they ended up raising $142,000 total from 3 FirstLook Investors! I’m excited to watch them continue to flourish. Their shoes are crazy comfortable!
Tally Kids
Founded by Kyle Watts & Jon Gabayzadeh | Site + IG | 📍 Denver, CO
What made them stand out: I am VERY bullish on Tally Kids. They checked all the boxes for me: Extremely experienced and connected team that's already moving fast? ✓. Superior product attacking very large white space that's growing? ✓. Long term outlook on category + desire by strategics is strong? ✓. Entry point and valuation that made sense? ✓. I’m so bullish on Tally that I actually pulled together an SPV for them. I’m excited to support them on their journey going forward.
Wellious
Founded by Sean Hall | Site + IG + TikTok | 📍 Orlando, FL
What made them stand out: The ingredient list for Wellious is so short, yet the product tastes so damn good, it makes me wonder why all the other plant-based protein companies out there add all this extra shit to theirs. Sean has cracked the code, and it is resonating HARD with customers. Their organic traction is strong with influencers (who have massive followings) simply posting for free because they love the product so much. As a cherry on top, Sean is a 2x successful founder which is always a great person to bet on.
Yaté
Founded by Eric Hoang, Mike Ferrari, & Galen Perry | Site + IG + TikTok | 📍 Los Angeles, CA
What made them stand out: I really warmed up to Eric on our first call. He’s calm, collected, and not afraid to hustle. His background in the night-life industry experience lends perfectly to Yaté and the consumer base their drink is designed for. Yaté is early, but this team is the exact type you want to bet on. Eric previously started ZEYA, China’s first hard seltzer. Mike did management consulting and in-house venture/innovation at AB-InBev and ZX Ventures for years. And Galen brings CPG experience serving AB-InBev, PepsiCo, Distell, and early-stage beverage startups. Solid team right there in my opinion.
Are you an investor interested to learn more about the above brands? Email [email protected]
And that's a wrap! The March box is next. Keep on building my friends.
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