Scentbird’s cofounder and CEO Mariya Nurislamova sets a record having raised $18.6 million, representing one of the largest Series A founding rounds by a female-led direct-to-consumer brand. The round was led by Goodwater Capital, a next-generation consumer technology firm, and joined by Y Combinator, Rainfall Ventures, FundersClub, Soma Capital, Scrum Ventures, ERA, and others.

WHO: Scentbird is a subscription-based fragrance company launched in 2013 and cofounded by Mariya Nurislamova (CEO), Sergei Gusev (COO), Andrei Rebrov (CTO), and Rachel ten Brink (CMO). The subscription model has upended the fragrance category offering access to over 500 fragrances. The sampling service has expanded to include a range of namesake personal care and home fragrance products.

WHY: Scentbird will use the funds to accelerate growth, ramping up product innovations, market expansion, new talent, and a focus on customer experience.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: “We are excited to launch Scentbird into the next stage of its growth,” said Mariya Nurislamova in a statement. “Attracting investors who understand the unique digital landscape and what we offer consumers, will bolster our position in the beauty industry on a larger scale. This funding shows the investors’ confidence in our team, the market opportunity, and our mission. It will allow us to keep moving at a fast pace while cultivating the creativity and technology to continually build our brand.”

Eric Kim, cofounder and managing partner at Goodwater Capital, told WWD the company hopes to support Scentbird on its “mission to transform the beauty space and change the way consumers approach fragrance.” He added, “At Goodwater Capital, our focus is on supporting entrepreneurial innovators who are not only disrupting product categories, but who are also challenging the status quo.”

DETAILS:

• Scentbird raised an $18.6 million Series A round of funding led by Goodwater Capital, a next-generation consumer technology firm, and joined by Y Combinator, Rainfall Ventures, FundersClub, Soma Capital, Scrum Ventures, ERA, and others.
• 95% of the company’s revenue comes from subscriptions and captures 1% of the multibillion-dollar prestige fragrance market, striving to double that number in the next year.
• The brand has seen 110% growth over the last year with subscriber numbers skyrocketing from 400 at the time of its initial seed round to 250,000 today.
• The team bootstrapped Scentbird for the first 10 months before going through Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA), an early-stage venture capital fund and technology accelerator, that invested the first $40,000.
• The company raised a $5.8MM seed round over the course of two years before raising their Series A.