If you think your choice of nail polish color or what ingredients go into your face cream can’t have anything to do with blockchain, think again.
Kiki Worlda beauty startup launched last year, wants consumers to co-create products and co-own the company with the help of web3 technology.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles-based Kiki announced it had raised a $7 million round from crypto fund Andreessen Horowitz and New Incubation Ventures of The Estée Lauder Companies, along with other backers including OrangeDao and 2Punks Capital.
Kiki’s co-founder Jana Bobosikova said she believes being a brand loyal user in the Web 2.0 world can be a purely negative experience. “You’ve probably watched a lot of creators on TikTok recommend it to you. You probably recommended it to all your friends. And what do you get for it? Just more retargeted ads,” he said.
Kiki upends this model by allowing members of its community to vote on the features they want before the beauty products are made. In return, voters earn points for free products and receive digital tokens in the company.
“It’s a dynamic that the Internet and your bathroom haven’t seen yet,” Bobosikova said. (He may be right about the bathroom, though of course, the Internet has seen many customers vote for products and earn digital tokens for their participation.)
Since it’s not uncommon for cosmetics companies to find themselves with large piles of inventory they can’t sell, another benefit of Kiki’s on-demand approach is that it uses less capital and resources.
Although members’ product votes are recorded on Ethereum, Bobosikova said some participants don’t need to know they’re taking action on the blockchain. Users can log in with an email and voila, Kiki has created an on-chain account that will store members’ votes in perpetuity.
a16z decided to support Kiki after the launch was completed 10 Week Crypto Startup Accelerator Program. “Jhana is a force of nature. It was one of the things that attracted us most to the firm,” said Ariana Simpson, general partner at the firm. “She has incredible expertise in the beauty space, but also a unique understanding of the web3, which is not always something we see if we have a founder coming out of a more traditional industry.”
Prior to founding Kiki, Czech-born Bobosikova was CEO of Epic Future Labs, a product development and brand innovation company.
Simpson noted that Kiki is not the company’s only bet on a company that rewards customers using blockchain technology. Last year, the a16z drove a Blackbird Labs’ $24 million Series A;a hospitality technology company that developed a loyalty program that incentivizes guests to dine at independent restaurants.
Currently, Kiki has launched five product collections, including a nail polish pen, for which consumers can choose the next color that Kiki will make.
But as Simpson pointed out, Kiki has plans to eventually expand beyond the beauty world.
How long will it be before you can vote on jeans styles or purse sizes? Maybe a little.
“We’ve faced crazy challenges on the physical side of things,” Bobiskova said, adding that some products take much longer to make than others. “The power of asking people what they want and giving it to them is very, very simple. It’s just too hard to do.”
