Brit + Co

Private
Industry Internet commerce and media
Founded 2011
Founder Brit Morin
Headquarters San Francisco
Services Media company and creative brand offering lifestyle content, online education, and merchandise
Number of employees
 100+
Website brit.co

Brit + Co is a media company that inspires, educates, and entertains real women with a creative spirit through content, online classes, and creative products. Brit + Co connects a community of over 125M women online and across platforms every month, bringing a creative lens to the women’s lifestyle space.[1] The company's audience consists primarily of millennial women.

The company was founded in late 2011 by Brit Morin, who currently serves as Founder & CEO.[2] An ex-Googler and Apple alum, Morin brought her innovative spirit from Silicon Valley to the digital media world.[3] As of 2017, the company has more than 100 full-time employees in addition to a network of hundreds of contributors. Brit + Co is headquartered in San Francisco and has an office in New York City.[4] Brit + Co is venture capitalist-backed, having raised $45 million in capital to date.[5]


Content

Originally focused on DIY and the “maker movement,” the company has expanded its creative lens across a broader set of women’s lifestyle categories including fashion, beauty, parenting, home, food, and news. Though the scope of coverage has widened, the company’s content reflects Brit + Co’s unique viewpoint and contains elements of creativity, utility, and personalization.

Additionally, Brit + Co is exploring video formats from short form instructional videos to branded videos to longer form video series, ranging from documentary to reality style.[6] Recent series have included "The How-To", "Snack Hacks", "The Beauty Breakdown", and "Obsessed AF".

Brit + Co creates content for brand partners in a range of industries. Some brands the company has worked with include Lowe's, Target, IKEA, Johnson & Johnson, Sephora, PepsiCo, Mondelez, Starbucks, JC Penney, FedEx, Google, L'Oreal, Hulu, Jo-Ann Fabric & Crafts, Sherwin-Williams, Old Navy, Cotton, KIA, Clorox, and more.

Online education

Brit + Co sells online classes direct-to-consumer on their website. The company offers classes in skills ranging from photography to calligraphy to coding, all aimed at giving its audience the tools they need to become their best selves. Each class is designed with beginners in mind and provides all the instruction needed to master a new skill in about an hour.

In 2016, the company doubled its online class revenue. In addition to selling classes, Brit + Co works with brand partners to create custom classes and sponsor existing classes. Past participating companies include FedEx and Acer.[7][8]

Licensing and merchandising

In March 2017, Brit + Co launched its own line of “activity kits” sold exclusively at Target.[9] In September 2016, Brit + Co launched Brit + Co for Cheeky - a collection of brightly designed disposable tableware also available exclusively at Target.[10] In Summer 2017, the company launched a line of DIY planners and accessories also at Target. In November 2015, Brit + Co collaborated with Crayola on the first crowd-sourced coloring book for grown-ups, Pattern Play. This was also offered exclusively at Target.[11]

Experiential

Re:Make

Launched in 2013, Re:Make is Brit + Co’s annual conference and festival aimed at young women who want to be more creative in every aspect of their lives. Re:Make plays host to the country’s leading designers, entrepreneurs, and bloggers. The 2016 conference lineup included Tyra Banks, Sophia Amoruso, Brené Brown, and Katia Beauchamp. At the festival portion of the event, over 100 makers demonstrate their products, and hands-on DIY workshops are hosted.[12] Over 15,000 visitors attended Re:Make 2016.[13]

Holiday House

The Brit + Co Holiday House is an annual pop-up event held in San Francisco, offering creative activity classes, artisan products, and DIY and gifting stations. The 2016 Holiday House was sponsored primarily by method and played host to thousands of customers and Brit + Co audience members seeking inspiration for the holiday season.[14] Over 200k people tuned in via Twitch to watch creative classes held at the house.[15] Other Holiday House brand sponsors have included Jo-Ann Fabric & Crafts, Fancy Feast, and Barefoot Wines.

Branded events

Brit + Co hosts tailored, real-life branded experiences typically in tandem with members of its extensive influencer network. Past events have included a summer cocktail hour sponsored by Cupcake Vineyards, a spring style event sponsored by JC Penney and hosted by blogger and television personality Ali Fedotowsky, and a DIY flu season wellness kit event, sponsored by Kleenex.

Funding

The company raised $1.25 million in initial seed funding in April 2012 from investors that included Marissa Mayer, Tina Sharkey (former chairman of BabyCenter and co-founder of iVillage), American entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, Index Ventures, Founders Fund, General Catalyst Partners, DMGT, Cowboy Ventures, and several other private angel investors.[5] In 2013, the company raised $6.3 million in a Series A funding led by Oak Investment Partners. Also participating in the round were Index Ventures, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, Former Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, entrepreneur Karl Jacob, and “longtime Facebooker” Katie Zacarian.[16] The company raised $20 million in Series B funding led by Intel Capital in 2015. Other participants included Oak Investment Partners, Liberty Media, DMGT, Jennifer Hyman (CEO and Co-Founder of Rent The Runway), and Jim Fielding (President of Consumer Products and Innovation for Fox Television Group and Twentieth Century Fox Film).[17] In 2017, Brit + Co raised $15M in Series C Funding led by Verizon Ventures. Additionally, former Target CMO and Uber President, Jeff Jones, joined the company as an advisor.[18][19][20]

References

  1. ↑ "About". Brit + Co. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  2. ↑ "Team". Brit + Co. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  3. ↑ Marikar, Sheila (2013-12-04). "A Millennial D.I.Y.-er With the Digitized Touch". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  4. ↑ "Contact". Brit + Co. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  5. 1 2 "Brit + Co | crunchbase". www.crunchbase.com. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  6. ↑ "Brit + Co Video". Brit + Co. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  7. ↑ "10 Pieces of Real Advice from Female Entrepreneurs". Brit + Co. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  8. ↑ "8 Free Classes to Make Your Busy Life More Creative, Productive, and Fun!". Brit + Co. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  9. ↑ "Brit + Co DIY Kits Are Coming to Target!". Brit + Co. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  10. ↑ "Announcing Our New Line at Target: Brit + Co for Cheeky!". Brit + Co. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  11. ↑ "This Just In: We Made a Coloring Book and You Can Buy It TODAY!". Brit + Co. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  12. ↑ Keeshin, Matthew. "Brit + Co Unleashes Creativity at Re:Make 2016". Dwell. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  13. ↑ Bloom, Jonathan (2016-10-01). "Re:Make Summit lets creative people to try hand at different art". ABC7 San Francisco. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  14. ↑ Bloom, Jonathan (2016-12-10). "Make gifts at San Francisco's 'Holiday House'". ABC7 San Francisco. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  15. ↑ "BritandCo - Twitch". Twitch. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  16. ↑ Taylor, Colleen. "Brit + Co. Nabs $6.3M Series A Led By Oak Investment Partners To Go Big On Its Tech Media Hub For Makers | TechCrunch". Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  17. ↑ Lunden, Ingrid. "Brit+Co Confirms $20M Raise Led By Intel, Acquires How-To App Snapguide | TechCrunch". Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  18. ↑ Roof, Katie. "Brit + Co raises $15 million to grow its media and merchandise businesses | TechCrunch". Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  19. ↑ Rao, Leena. "Verizon Ventures Invested In This Home and Recipe Website". Fortune. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  20. ↑ Spangler, Todd (2017-05-18). "Verizon Ventures Leads $15 Million Investment in Digital Media Firm Brit + Co". Variety. Retrieved 2017-05-31.

Further reading

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