Julep is a small nail and makeup electric business company from Seattle

Julep is a small nail and makeup electric business enterprise from Seattle. Although the company is small, they have just received a large amount of money to complete the financing. The company announced today that it had completed a 30 million-dollar C-round financing, including Azure capital, Madrona Venture Group, Altimeter Capital, Maveron and Andreessen Horowitz.

Jane Park, founder and CEO of Julep, said that when she had just set up a company to launch her first round of financing, she encountered some unfair treatment, that is, sexism.

"A lot of investors said to me at the time: ' Your ideas are good and the team is excellent," he said. But I have only one investment plan this year, and I don't want to invest in beauty companies. Mr. Park recalls that a VC once told her that he would only fund the entrepreneur he liked, or at least be interested in the business he was in, so he could offer advice and help to the entrepreneur. And since the investor does not have the background of the industry, he is not the consumer of the industry, so refused to provide funds for Julep.

"What these investors don't understand is that when you invest, you're not the main player in this investment," says Park. The protagonist of the investment should be the enterprise, as well as the experience of this enterprise. However, in this environment, the operation of a majority of investors are unfamiliar with the business, in the financing of the time there will be a lot of difficulties. ”

Investors who choose to invest without looking at the data and relying solely on personal preferences are something that almost all start-ups have to go through, especially those that need seed financing and early financing. Usually, when a company has several financing experience, they will do all the homework and preparation, improve their products, to deal with the difficulties of investors.

For start-ups with insufficient financing, however, this approach will certainly make it difficult for start-ups to find financing. Julep had this problem at first.

Park said to me: "I think the most fundamental reason we faced this problem is that the number of women VC is too small." In other words, in the VC circle, few people can understand us. ”

After several years of unremitting efforts, park finally found investors for his business. Version One ventures, Alliance of Angels and Afsquare provided her with a round of 5.9 million dollars in a-turn financing. Less than a year later, they completed a 10.3 million-dollar B-round financing and attracted the famous investor Andreessen Horowitz.

Now, they have completed the C round of financing, after the financing, the company's total financing over 56 million U.S. dollars. And the company's revenues turned 3 times-fold in 2013, proving the consumer's interest in the US-made electric trader and the investors ' vision.

Of course, it is not yet possible to say that Julep has achieved success. Andreessen Horowitz once invested in Fab and ShoeDazzle two electric business enterprises, and these two companies in the completion of the C-round or D-round financing has encountered great trouble. Julep will also face many challenges in the future development path, such as expanding product categories, maintaining user interest and expanding international market.

Mr. Park said Julep's products were manufactured by themselves: "The wave of the third wave of buyers is imminent and we are able to protect the stock of the products we sell." In the provision of services to consumers, we and other electrical business enterprises have the essence of the difference. ”

Aside from the challenges of the future, at least until now, investors who have rejected park may have to review their decisions.