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CoProcure, a marketplace where local and state governments can purchase goods and services, raised a $22 million Series A led by VC firm Forerunner, the company's co-founder and CEO Mariel Reed tells me.

Leadout Capital and Neo, as well as angel investors Marco Zappacosta (founder of Thumbtack), Dan Lewis (founder of Convoy) and Katrina Lake (founder of Stitch Fix) also participated.

Why it matters: CoProcure is part of a new generation of startups that want to use technology to address ignored opportunities like selling to local and state governments while making the world a better place.

Although consumers have sophisticated apps that help them order everything from food delivery to car service, the way governments buy the things they need is still stuck in the 1990s, Reed says.

State of play: The startup claims that e-commerce sites do not exist for the 16 million public servants responsible for spending on everything from PPE to landscaping to school supplies.

Delivery can take between four and 24 months, she says. 

Between the lines: The idea is to create an online destination that wrangles up all the government buyers out there into one place.

That one-stop approach allows these government buyers to buy off one another’s contracts. 

This is called piggybacking or cooperative purchasing and theoretically saves these organizations time and money.

The aim, according to Reed, is an e-commerce site allowing local and regional businesses to tap into a market that they either never thought of selling to or decided it wasn't profitable.

What's next: Proceeds will be used to market the service, which so far has largely grown through word of mouth, and to aggressively sign up more governments, Reed says.

Because the aim of CoProcure is to bring all government purchasers onto one platform, the service is being offered to them free.

By the numbers: More than $100 million worth of goods and services were sold to government entities in 2021 on the platform via about 40,000  vendors. One-quarter of these vendors qualify as minority-owned.

The startup aims to more than triple that amount this year, Reed says.

More than 300 local and state governments have signed up so far.

The total universe is 50,000 buyers with some $2 trillion in annual spending — $200 billion of that spent via piggybacking, she says.

1 big thing: CoProcure raises $22M Series A 

Illustration of suited hand holding a penny

E-commerce company Bloomreach received $175 million in funding, Bloomberg reports, valuing the company at $2.2 billion. 

The round was led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and included existing investors Bain Capital Ventures and Sixth Street Partners, per Bloomberg.

Why it's the BFD: The size of the funding round and its valuation underscores the value that personification is commanding right now in the online consumer space.

Co-founder and CEO Raj De Datta tells Bloomberg's Katie Roof that capital from the funding round will be partially used for international expansion, particularly in Europe.

The company will also add more personalization to its products, he said.

2. The BFD: Bloomreach's $175M funding round

Illustration of a hand holding a very large stack of money.

The fundraising that Beauty For All Industries announced yesterday was four times the company's previous fundraise, Marcelo Camberos, co-founder and CEO, tells me.

The parent of beauty subscription services such as Ipsy and BoxyCharm said in a press release that it pulled in a $96 million growth investment led by TPG Growth.

Context: As M&A and investment in other consumer-facing sectors has waxed and waned and waxed again, deal-making in the beauty segment has remained reliably bullish.

Of note: While the company declined to comment on its current revenue, it pointed to a report in 2020 where it said revenue that year would cross the $1 billion threshold.

The latest: "Over the last 18 months, our entire business model has scaled from one single beauty subscription brand, Ipsy, to now house a portfolio of brands including BoxyCharm, Refreshments personal care brand and three direct to consumer brands Item Beauty, Tresluce Beauty and Complex Culture," Camberos said.

The company has also expanded its distribution to Mexico and launched in physical retail with Item Beauty, he added.

What's next: Proceeds will be invested in artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the personalization of offerings, building the community that has made Ipsy the third-largest brand on social network TikTok, and expanding distribution in retail stores (recently Sephora) and internationally, the CEO said.

The company is focused on growing its current portfolio of brands and doesn't plan on further M&A this year, he added.

3. Beauty For All's big haul

Fans of the beauty brand Ipsy attend a Gen Z event hosted by the company in a cavernous hall at the Los Angeles Convention Center. 

Beauty brand Ipsy holds an event at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Photo: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for ipsy

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX is expanding its marketing beyond sports deals by hiring beauty entrepreneur Lauren Remington Platt to head up new global luxury partnerships, my colleague Kia Kokalitcheva reports.

Of note: Platt's role at the company will be to "appeal to a wider demographic that maybe wasn’t hitting through our sports partnership" such as women, she explains.

While she declined to comment on the partnerships FTX will pursue, she did point to payments, luxury good authentication and digital art as areas where crypto and fashion overlap.

4. Retail therapy: FTX is pitching crypto to the luxury world

Illustration of a Rorschach inkblot showing shopping carts reflected on either side.

KKR acquired a majority stake in bottling company Refresco from PAI Partners and British Columbia Investment Management Corp. in a deal valued at about €7b, Bloomberg reports. Both sellers will retain minority stakes, however. http://axios.link/ZPwu

Brunt Workwear, a Boston-based work boot and apparel brand for construction workers and tradespeople, raised a $20m Series B led by growth equity firm Stripes. Returning investors that also participated include TF Cornerstone, Suffolk Technologies and Bolt. http://axios.link/NuHg

La Bouche Rouge, a French eco-luxury beauty brand, raised €10m from Mirabeau Asset Management, the Chalhoub Group and BPI, WWD reports. http://axios.link/ZNPs

Wildtype, a San Francisco-based lab-cultivated seafood startup, raised $100m in new funding led by L Catterton, with Cargill, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bezos Expeditions, Temasek and Robert Downey Jr.'s FootPrint Coalition also participating. http://axios.link/7ALE

 Urent, a Russia-based e-scooter and bike rental service, raised $27.8m in funding led by MTS, with VPE Capital and VEN Ventures also participating. http://axios.link/Up0U

Alloy Automation, a San Francisco-based e-commerce focused API company, raised $20m in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. http://axios.link/yRVw

DishDivvy, a Los Angeles-based marketplace for home cooks, raised $1.3M in pre-seed funding led by 10X Venture with angels also participating. http://axios.link/aY9I 

5. Retail transactions

Patricia Jackson moves up at grocer Ingles Market into the role of CFO from controller effective today, succeeding Ronald Freeman, who is retiring. http://axios.link/IhyD

6. It's Personnel

Situational awareness:  Shares of Ralph Lauren rose 5% on Tuesday after I reported on LVMH holding exploratory talks about a potential deal for the U.S. fashion brand. 

Remember to tell your friends to sign up for this newsletter if you haven't already.

Editors note: The 1 big thing in yesterday's edition has been corrected to show about 40,000 vendors were on the platform, not 1,000.

February 23, 2022

1 big thing: CoProcure raises $22M Series A