- FirstLook Newsletter
- Posts
- March 2023 FirstLook Brands
March 2023 FirstLook Brands
Highlights From Our March Box, company updates, Founder Pro Tips, and more.
FirstLook
July 09, 2023
Please welcome our 46 new subscribers since our last newsletter. I'll try my best to keep this fun, light, and informative. I'm glad you're here.
Namaste! ("Hi" in Nepali)
Hope everyone had an amazing 4th of July! Having it on a Tuesday was a bit odd, but at least the rest of the work week was short.
On the FirstLook front, the July boxes shipped out with 6 exciting brands, one of which has a very well known celebrity cofounder. If you’re curious to learn more about how brands work with and leverage celeb talent, I recommend the Celebrity Packaged Goods newsletter.
I’m proud to share that my investing partners (Austin and Nate) and I got our first SPV over the goal line with the support of many incredible investors and friends. We were fortunate to write a small check into Tally Kids. They’re an extremely experienced team, have a great product, and are building in a large untapped whitespace; children’s plant-based milk. They’re early, but that’s the horse we wanted to back in this race.
That said, FirstLook Ventures is officially born! I’m excited to get started on our next investment, support Tally, and meet more investors who appreciate our thesis of investing in remarkable founders targeting emerging whitespaces in consumer. Brands - submit your decks here. Investors - join our group here.
Before you jump into the March brands, I need to share something with you. Every so often I come across a read that expands my mind 100x. Think, Mario eating a mushroom and instantly doubling in size. This is one of those reads: What I Learned From Developing Branding for Airbnb, Dropbox and Thumbtack.
Founder Pro Tip of the Month 💡
This is a small callout, but it oddly comes up a lot. Founders, when describing your SAFE note, include whether it’s Pre or Post-Money.
Majority of SAFEs are Post-Money, and rightfully so. They’re simpler for an investor to do quick math on. However, there are still enough pre-money SAFEs being used out there where it’s important to clarify in your deck, email, or wherever.
Y Combinator pioneered the SAFE agreement. They first debuted Pre-Money SAFEs, and later updated things to Post-Money SAFEs for added simplicity for everyone. Learn more about them here.
Did a friend forward you this email, and now you want to join?
March Box Brands 🚀
Investors: 40 → Apply Here | Brands: 8 → Apply Here | Intros: 59!
Are you an investor who'd like to dive in more on any of the below brands? Email [email protected]
Agni
Founded by Astrid Schanz-Garbassi & Miriam Cruz | Site / IG / TikTok | 📍Berkeley, CA
What made them stand out: Agni has a lot going for them. For starters, I like the food-is-medicine category. Americans are waking up to how many others around the world think about health: you are what you eat. People are more than ever are realizing that throwing pharmaceuticals at every health issue is not the answer. Astrid is a strong founder, and she’s backed by one hell of a cap table, include Greycroft, Albertsons Innovation Fund, Founder Collective, among others. Seriously, the list is nuts.
BubLuv
Founded by Diana Ark Chen | Site + IG + TikTok | 📍 NYC
What made them stand out: This product quickly jumped out when I first saw it. I love a good bubble tea after living in NYC’s Chinatown for years. But I only drank them on special occasions because of the calorie and sugar content. Lucky for us, Diana created BubLuv, which is a much healthier version of bubble tea - AND… it’s shelf stable. They taste great, and I can drink them on the go. The brand is still early, but I could see a future world where these are everywhere.
Feel Goods Co
Founded by Dustin Pourbaba & Brian Wong | Site + IG + TikTok | 📍 LA
What made them stand out: Dustin and Brian are hella talented when it comes to creating TikTok content that racks up millions of views a month and converts viewers into consumers. They are among the best with leveraging TikTok, which many brands are still trying to figure out. Their subscription component is working as well, growing 20% MOM. Cha-ching! As icing on the cake, Dustin is a successful 3x founder, while Brian was a lead iOS engineer at Yummly which was later acquired by Whirlpool. These two have the chops to go the distance.
Gwella
Founded by Peter Reitano, Stefany Nieto, & Daniel Sanders | Site + IG + TikTok | 📍 Toronto
What made them stand out: Gwella is another brand with a crazy strong cap table. Most notably, Vice Ventures. When Vice invests, I listen - given that “vice” brands are their specialty. That aside, their Mojo Microdose Gummies are patented and amongst the first to hit this insanely fast growing market. This explains how they eclipsed $1M in their first year of selling. I personally like markets that are exploding, even if there are regulations to work though. That’s exactly where Gwella plays.
Fox & Robin
Founded by Tommy Flaim | Site + IG + TikTok | 📍 Chicago
What made them stand out: The apparel industry is toxic in so many ways. There are massive contributors to global warming, big polluters from chemical run-offs, and workers that are often paid unfairly low wages. Fox & Robin eliminated all that by starting as a Certified B Corp, which creates a code of ethics for a transparent and sustainable supply chain that pays their workers much higher wages than traditional clothing brands. Because of their ESG focus, influencers regularly feature them for free. F&R went from 0 to 50k followers in the past 12 months. They have higher engagement on TikTok than nearly all activewear brands, and and Gen Z LOVES them because of their noble mission. If you’re looking for a new athletic brand to support, this is the one.
Pulp Pantry
Founded by Kaitlin Mogentale | Site + IG + TikTok | 📍 LA
What made them stand out: It’s hard to pass on a founder who absolutely hustles. In this case, that’s Kaitlin - who has single handed scaled Pulp Pantry to over $1M in annual revenue as a bootstrapped business. Unreal! Pulp Pantry is tapping into the wildly growing category of upcycled foods. Consumers are falling in love with this space, and retailers want these brands on their shelves. To round this out, Pulp Pantry’s chips taste really good! They have the perfect crunch, taste, and texture. I nearly inhaled their Salt ‘n’ Vinegar chips the first time I tried them.
Roseade
Founded by Karl Ziegler, Victoria Ash, & Lee Smallman | Site + IG | 📍 Redondo Beach, CA
What made them stand out: Who loves lemonde? Everyone. Who loves Rosé? Everyone. Combine these together and you have a very tempting offer for consumers. That’s what Victoria and Carl did, each of whom bring decades of experience from the alcohol industry. They’re early, but I love the brands cheekiness and summer vibes. If you’re curious how tasty they are, I suggest this read where Roseade nabbed 2nd place amongst 50 canned cocktails tested!
SWAIR
Founded by Carrie Sporer & Meredith Krill | Site + IG + TikTok | 📍 NYC
What made them stand out: SWAIR is interesting for two reasons. First, people are quickly realizing the importance of breaking a sweat each day. “Get the f*ck off the couch and go do something” - Every Doctor. Second, the showerless shampoo industry is under intense fire right now from the use of benzene in their products. Benzene is recognized as a human carcinogen that can cause humans to develop leukemia or other cancers of the blood. For everyone breaking a sweat and dodging leukemia and blood cancers, SWAIR uses all natural and safe ingredients so your hair can look beautiful as you go from a light jog right to your next happy hour. I also like the unique ways Carrie brings exposure to SWAIR including a feature on The Today Show!
And that's a wrap. The April box is next. Keep on building founder gang!
If you're a brand, sign up here to jump in our boxes. If you're an investor, sign up here to get a box!