Subscription e-commerce as a category has seen funding collapse and some companies struggle. At least five of these companies died in 2015, includingBeachmint which focused on celebrity-curated products.
But the space counts some well-funded startups including Harry’s Razor Company, JustFab (which claims to be IPO-bound), and BarkBox, as well as The Honest Company, which offers monthly subscriptions for “bundles” of products related to infant care, home cleaning, and more.
We identified subscription e-commerce startups in the following areas:
- Beauty & Personal Care – Anchored by big names Harry’s ($287M in disclosed funding) and The Honest Company ($222M), this category represents the most well-funded segment in our infographic. The nine companies included have raised over $990M in aggregate.
- Women’s Apparel – This category includes the most well-funded company in our infographic, JustFab ($300M), which aims to offer members personally curated selections of apparel and accessories each month. Other companies include Stitch Fix, AdoreMe, which focuses on lingerie, and Gwynnie Bee, which targets the plus-size market.
- Men’s Apparel – Companies such as Bombfell ($1M raised) and Five Four Club (bootstrapped) ship male-targeted boxes of apparel and accessories.
- Children & Babies – Subscriptions for children’s toys and educational games, including ToucanBox and Bluum.
- Hobbies – Loot Crate is a relatively well-funded company in this diverse category, with $19M in funding for subscriptions of geek and gaming pop culture items. Gear Supply Co. is a subscription service for guitar strings, Ganja Boxes sends vaporizers and related items, Artboxdistributes local art within the Toronto area, and Quarterly ships boxes each quarter curated by a “thought leader.” For example, a science-focused collection is curated by Bill Nye, while a young adult books collection is curated by a new young adult author each quarter.
- Feminine Care – Lola offers subscriptions of 100% cotton tampons, while Monthly Gift sends users pads, tampons, and chocolates.
- Outdoor Activities – Cairn serves outdoor enthusiasts with subscription boxes including goods like energy bars, hiking apparel, fire starters, and headlamps.
- Pet Items – Startups offering scheduled deliveries for dog toys, likeBarkBox, or healthy food, like The Farmer’s Dog.
- Dating – Datebox delivers items for a different activity to couples each month.
