NakedPoppy, a clean beauty site powered by intelligent technology to personalize and simplify product selection, is shuttering its online store on October 31, 2023.

WHO: NakedPoppy launched in 2019 as the first clean beauty site powered by intelligent technology. Founded by Silicon Valley veteran Jaleh Bisharat and data scientist Kimberly Shenk. NakedPoppy sold 750+ carefully chosen SKUs from clean brands that were scientifically vetted and six branded SKUs. Intelligent proprietary AI technology enabled a highly personalized, curated experience that dramatically simplified the process of finding the perfect products.

WHY: Like many pure-play e-commerce retailers, Naked Poppy struggled with perpetual online discounting from competitors.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: "In moving forward, we didn’t want to choose a path that would sacrifice the integrity of our offering," founder Jaleh Bisharat shared. "While this wasn’t the outcome I’d hoped for when we started the company, bringing NakedPoppy to the world was such a rich experience that I’d do it again, even knowing what I know now."

DETAILS:

• It took two years for the business to gain traction, but it achieved triple-digit growth between 2021 and 2022 and secured a patent for the algorithm.
• Co-founder Kimberly Shenk left the company in late 2019 to launch Novi Connect, a B2B SaaS platform of suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, and brands backed by $51 million in funding.
• NakedPoppy launched with $4 million in funding from prominent Silicon Valley investors. Cowboy Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and Polaris Ventures led the round with participation from Felicis Ventures, Maveron, and Slow Ventures.