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Based in London, Beauty Pie operates a direct-to-consumer subscription platform that provides members with luxury skincare, cosmetics, and wellness products sourced directly from third-party laboratories. The e-commerce company bypasses traditional retail markups by utilizing a bi-level membership model, allowing users to purchase items at near-manufacturing costs. Operating with an estimated workforce of 100 to 250 employees, the enterprise has raised approximately $170 million in total equity financing to date. This capitalization includes a $100 million Series B funding round backed by prominent institutional investors such as Insight Partners, Index Ventures, General Catalyst, and Balderton Capital. While initially focused on digital sales, the brand recently tested offline retail expansion through physical pop-up locations in the United Kingdom to supplement its core skincare and makeup offerings. Beauty Pie was founded in 2016 by Marcia Kilgore.
Beauty Pie has raised $100.0M across 1 funding round.
Beauty Pie has raised $100.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Beauty Pie has raised $100.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Beauty Pie's investors include Index Ventures, Insight Partners, AirAngels, Andreessen Horowitz, Base Partners, C2 Investment, Coatue, Daffy, Electric Capital, Fuel Capital, Greylock, IVP.
Beauty Pie has raised $100.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $100.0M Series B in September 2021.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2021 | $100M Series B | Index Ventures, Insight Partners | AirAngels, Andreessen Horowitz, Base Partners, C2 Investment, Coatue, Daffy, Electric Capital, Fuel Capital, Greylock, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, LGF, Next Play Ventures, Openview Venture Partners, Otherwise Fund, Outcast Ventures, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Sequoia Capital, Upfront Ventures, UpHonest Capital, Bradley Horowitz, DJ Patil, Kevin Colas, Mike Krieger, Suranga Chandratillake, General Catalyst, Latitude Ventures | Announced |
Beauty Pie is not a technology company but a direct-to-consumer beauty and wellness brand leveraging advanced tech for e-commerce and operations. It builds a subscription-based platform offering luxury-grade skincare, makeup, haircare, body care, fragrance, and wellness products at factory-direct prices, sourced from top global labs without traditional retail markups[1][3][6][8]. Serving beauty enthusiasts worldwide via membership (monthly or annual fee for access to discounted products), it solves the problem of inflated beauty prices—up to 90% markups—by buying in bulk and selling warehouse-direct, empowering customers with premium quality at a fraction of retail costs[3][6][8]. Growth momentum includes managing over 100 product launches yearly, a scalable cloud-based e-commerce platform achieving 99.9% uptime, an iOS app launch for seamless shopping, and recognition as Asana's Tech Visionary Award winner, with plans for AI-driven optimizations[2][5][7].
Beauty Pie was founded in 2016 by serial entrepreneur Marcia Kilgore, known for prior beauty ventures, with headquarters in London, UK[3][4][5]. The idea emerged from challenging the beauty industry's opaque pricing, where consumers overpay for markups; Kilgore aimed to democratize luxury by partnering directly with elite labs in France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Japan, and Korea[3][4][6][8]. Early traction came from its disruptive direct-to-consumer subscription model, growing into a multi-million-dollar business with a loyal customer base; pivotal moments include a 202x cloud migration to HCL Commerce on Google Cloud for scalability and the recent iOS app debut under CEO Kevin Cornils to enhance member experience[5][7].
Beauty Pie rides the direct-to-consumer (D2C) and subscription e-commerce wave in beauty, amplified by post-pandemic demand for transparency, value, and digital-first shopping amid inflation[3][4]. Timing aligns with cloud-native tech maturation and AI tools enabling personalization at scale, allowing it to disrupt a $500B+ industry saturated with high-markup brands[1][2]. Market forces like consumer skepticism of retail pricing and growth in headless e-commerce favor its model, while tech integrations position it as a blueprint for beauty retail evolution, influencing competitors toward efficiency and member-centric platforms[3][5].
Beauty Pie's tech stack and membership flywheel position it for global expansion, with AI integrations in Asana workflows automating launches and enhancing personalization to drive retention and new categories like wellness[2]. Trends like mobile commerce, predictive analytics, and sustainable sourcing will shape its path, potentially scaling to millions more members as e-commerce beauty grows. Its influence may evolve from disruptor to industry standard-setter, redefining luxury access—proving that cutting markups with smart tech delivers a bigger piece of the pie to all.
