Kiki World Announces $7M Funding Round from The Estee Lauder Companies

Kiki World has announced a $7 million funding round led by a16z crypto and The Estée Lauder Companies' New Incubation Ventures (NIV) as it opens its platform to a variety of creators and brands.

The investment from a16z crypto follows Kiki's participation in its spring 2023 Crypto Startup Accelerator program. NIV invested in November 2022 at Kiki's concept stages prior to launch.

Kiki looks to build consumer brands as dynamic platforms, with products and experiences created by and rewards shared with the communities that use them.

Starting in April 2024, Kiki will begin releasing a new set of platform tools and applications. These will enable creators, brands, and fans to connect and launch rich campaigns driven by their communities, in addition to fueling KIKI's own created product lines. 

Jana Bobosikova, Brendon Garner and Ricky Chan, Kiki's co-founders, said, "Brand websites are valuable for not only selling but also educating, and KIKI's innovative platform strategically takes brand.com capabilities a step further to leverage community and drive creativity as trends rapidly emerge. KIKI sees the internet and the communities it connects as the engine that creates, not merely consumes, the brands and products that will define the next generation, and is building tools to make this elevated customer experience a reality."

Shana Randhava, senior vice president, NIV, The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC), said, "Consumers are at the heart of what we do at The Estée Lauder Companies. That's why we're excited by the Kiki team's vision of finding new ways to put the customer first. Kiki brand with their custom-built platform is leveraging the forefront of web3 tech to rethink the future of how consumers can co-create with brands and engage in new and relevant ways. This exploration of a new consumer-centric model provides ELC with a valuable window into the future of beauty."

Arianna Simpson, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, said, "Historically, there's been a deep connection between high-quality consumer brands and their customers, but it has been without direct input from the community - KIKI is now breaking down that barrier by letting consumers directly weigh in on what products they want to see created next. Kiki's founding team brings a complementary mix of experiences across beauty and tech. It's been rewarding to see their dedication to bringing their expertise to web3 and seeing them grow from a participant in our Crypto Startup Accelerator program to now fostering a thriving Kiki community. We are thrilled to support Kiki's vision to build digital-physical experiences that empower their customers to co-create and co-own their products."