The Consumer VC Roundup #66

Hey friends,

We have a few morning events coming up in case you find yourself in LA, NYC or Austin. I’m excited to bring back our LA one and hope it will join Austin and New York and become a monthly hang. Other cities we’re thinking of expanding to are Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto…and Montreal. If you’d like to get involved in any of the city expansions. and/or theres’s city you think we should consider, please let me know!

***Please note for the following events we will be prioritizing brands/founders if we run out of room.***

☕️ Wake Up! CPG - Austin, TX

📆 Thursday, April 25th

🕗 8:30am-10:30am CST - SIGN UP HERE

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☕️ Consumer Sunrise - Los Angeles, CA

📆 Thursday, April 25th

🕗 8:00am-10:00am PST - SIGN UP HERE

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☕️ Consumer Brews - New York, NY

📆 Friday, April 26th

🕗 9:00am-10:30am EST - SIGN UP HERE

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And Finally…

📍LA Happy Hour at Manufactured’s HQ

In addition to The Consumer VC, I also host a podcast called re:COGs, which is about the inventory and supply chain side of building brands. We’re throwing our 1 year anniversary party in Los Angeles at Manufactured’s HQ.

📆 April 30th 🕔 5PM 😎 Vibe: Happy Hour Hang

If you’re in LA, we’d love to see you there. You can RSVP Here.

On to our consumer update but first a quick word from Propeller –

This issue is brought to you by Propeller Industries.

Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies. Thinking about profitability, extending your runway, and improving efficiency in your operations? Managing your company’s finances requires multiple skill sets. Propeller’s fractional model offers a dynamic solution that provides a cost-effective alternative to hiring full-time finance talent.

To learn more about The Consumer VC sponsor opportunities, click here

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💻Consumer Software💻

💰 Zaver, a Swedish B2C buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) provider in Europe, closed a $10M extension to its Series A funding round, bringing its total Series A to $20M. Zaver claims it can assess the risk on BNPL cart sizes of up to €200,000 in real time due to its risk assessment algorithms. Other BNPL providers rarely fund anything beyond €3,000, at least in Europe. Tech Crunch

💳 Pomelo, the first consumer fintech to enable international money movement with consumer credit, announced a Series A of $35 million in venture capital and a $75m expansion of its warehouse facility from Vy Capital, Founders Fund, and A* Capital. PR Newswire

🛒 Midas, the fintech startup that brought retail investing to millions of people in Turkey, announced raising $45M in equity funding to expand and roll out three new products: cryptocurrency trading, mutual funds, and savings accounts. PR Newswire

🥼 Clarity Pediatrics, a chronic care startup, says it can reduce the wait time for receiving a diagnosis and beginning ADHD therapy from many months to a couple of days, for an average $15 co-pay per session. As they plan to use $10M in seed funds it raised from Rethink Impact, with participation from Homebrew and Maverick Ventures, to expend its services to other states in 2024. Tech Crunch

🛍️Consumer Products🛍️

🧴 Experiment Beauty, the TikTok-native skin care brand, has closed a $3.3 million seed round to fuel team expansion, product development and marketing. The brand sells directly on its website with four stock keeping units: a reusable sheet mask, a hydrating serum, an oil-gel hybrid and a lip balm. WWD

🛒eCommerce & Retail Tech🛒

🏷️ The Folklore, The platform built to help fashion brands from emerging markets like Africa, Asia and The Caribbean tap into the international market, raised 3.4 million in seed funding round led by Benchstrength, a VC firm by ex-General Catalyst partners Kenneth Chenault Jr. and John Monagle, with the participation of existing investors Slauson & Co., Techstars and Black Tech Nation Ventures to give brands additional help they require to scale, including capital and talent. Tech Crunch

💼 SingleInterface, a Singaporean SaaS startup offering tools to offline businesses to grow their revenues by leveraging the web, has raised $30 million in its maiden external fundraising round led by Asia Partners, a growth investment firm based in Singapore. This all-equity round also saw participation from PayPal Ventures. Aiming to expand its footprint internationally and improve products to make them more relevant to global brands. Tech Crunch

💸M&A💸

💄 Mented Cosmetics will be joining West Lane’s portfolio company Blooming Brands, which includes beauty brands Blossom, By Blossom, Blue Cross Nail Care, Simply Organic and Body Spa. Happi

🥐 Forward Consumer Partners, a private equity firm which invests in branded consumer businesses, has acquired a majority stake in local baker and cracker maker Firehook Bakery. Global Data, PE hub

💰Funds Raising Funds💰

💰 Maven Ventures, the leading headhunting firm recruiting for private equity and venture capital backed companies across EMEA and the US, raised $60 million in capital commitments for a fourth fund to back “massive consumer tech trends.” Tech Crunch

🏪Distribution Expansion🏪

👟 Kizik, the hands-free shoe brand, is launching its biggest-ever marketing campaign and plotting three store openings this summer after nearly one year of opening its first physical retail store and dabbling in wholesale. ModernRetail