- Brightly — a female-founded startup combining content, community, and commerce to scale conscious consumerism founded in 2019 by Laura Alexander Wittig and Liza Moiseeva — recently announced it has raised $1.15 million to date.
Brightly — a female-founded startup combining content, community, and commerce to scale conscious consumerism founded in 2019 by Laura Alexander Wittig and Liza Moiseeva — recently announced it has raised $1.15 million to date by approaching sustainable living from a practical point of view. And both women are e-commerce veterans with experience at Amazon, Google, and GlobeIn (the first fair trade subscription box).
The Female Founders Alliance had invested in Brightly’s round and selected their team to participate in its’ Ready Set Raise program, leading to valuable connections with investors in the Seattle area and across the US.
The previous funding came from Snap as part of their Yellow Accelerator, and participating in this funding round are prominent Pacific Northwest venture capital funds like Tacoma Venture Fund and Keeler Investments (backers of sustainability-focused companies Public Goods and Full Circle). The Brightly approach had also caught the eye of well-known consumer venture capitalists like Odile Roujol, FAB Ventures backer and former L’Oreal CEO.
Brightly reaches over 250,000 women daily by sharing eco-friendly product recommendations, sustainable living tips, and community-driven advice on a variety of platforms. And their “Good Together” podcast has been a frequent Apple podcast feature. Last year alone, Brightly reached 18 million impressions on Instagram and 30 million views on TikTok where their videos about sustainable product swaps and eco-friendly living regularly go viral.
Their community approach has attracted over 10,000 members (called Brand Ambassadors), who share ideas, product recommendations, and testimonies on Brightly’s iOS and Android apps, available in public beta through the Apple and Google App Stores.
KEY QUOTES:
“We’re building a commerce company that is designed to change consumer behavior for good. Our goal is to inspire millions of people to practice imperfect, planet-focused living every day.”
“The program’s coaching and connections enabled us to close our round quickly and, combined with our exponential growth in late 2020, lead to us turning investors away due to demand.”
— Laura Alexander Wittig
“Our audience is growing daily, but most importantly, it’s extremely engaged. We are honored that these students, moms, and friends take time out of their busy lives to share eco-advice, product recommendations, and to support each other, every single day. Their ‘realistic and achievable eco-friendly living’ stories inform our content, and we are so excited to listen and share it.”
— Liza Moiseeva
“I founded FAB Ventures to back purpose-driven entrepreneurs. I’m excited to put this capital to work backing Brightly’s female founders, building a vibrant community of GenZ and Millennials, and scaling conscious consumerism. We can all make a difference.”
— Odile Roujol of FAB Ventures
