No irritating stubble or bumps on Dollar Shave Club’s path of success.
“It’s a company that has moved so well and so quickly with high quality investors and high growth trajectories,” said Dave Young, a partner at Cooley LLP which has counseled the Venice startup since its launch. “They’ve just been on top of things from the onset.”
Those growth goals include reaching the 1-million-member mark after just two years in business and tripling its annual revenue to bring in $60 million this year, both of which were announced recently. The Venice startup, which offers a monthly subscription service that mails razor blades directly to customers’ homes, attributes its enviable membership to a combination of millennial marketing and word-of-mouth referrals. The company’s viral videos have raked in 18 million views online. Fifty thousand members recommend the club to friends each month.
It’s an approach that many L.A. startups are taking as they go after revenue earlier on in their life cycles, said Young. And while some flame out quickly, Dollar Shave Club has consistently shaved away the decades-long dominance held by Proctor and Gamble’s Gillette and Energizer Holding’s Schick. The two industry staples account for roughly 80 percent of the market share, according to market intelligence firm Euromonitor.
Dollar Shave Club said it now owns 8.8 percent of the U.S. men’s cartridge market based on unit sales. And it’s continuing to see double digit growth month over month.
“Guys like things easy, and now they don’t even have to think about going to the store to buy these essential items,” Chief Executive Michael Dubin said in an email.
An easy shave lends to an easy investment. Dollar Shave Club last week announced it had raised $50 million in Series C funding, bringing its total funding to date to $73 million.
Dubin said the money will go toward accelerating the company’s growth. But a “men’s only” sign still hangs on the razor club’s door. As of now, there are no explicit plans to move into the women’s market.
“It’s a bit too soon to talk about that now,” Dubin said.
Staff reporter Melissah Yang can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @MelissahYang for the latest in L.A. tech news.
