Latest news with #TYB
Business of Fashion
2 days ago
- Business
- Business of Fashion
Outdoor Voices' Founder Raises Series A for New Start-Up
Ty Haney is ready to scale her new venture. The entrepreneur, who previously founded activewear label Outdoor Voices, announced on Wednesday that she has raised an $11 million Series A funding round for her three-year-old rewards platform Try Your Best. The round was led by Offline Ventures and Strobe Ventures, which previously invested in TYB in 2023. TYB lets consumers earn rewards from their favourite brands based on how much they engage with them — including sending referrals or simply posting about coveted products. The platform currently works with 200 brands, including buzzy names known for their rapid fan bases like Rare Beauty, Glossier and Saie. The funding will help TYB bring more brands and customers onto the platform. The fundraise comes as brands rev up their community building strategies to increase loyalty among Millennial and Gen-Z shoppers who buy from companies they have a genuine connection with. TYB has raised $24 million to date, including a $4 million seed round in 2023, according to PitchBook. Learn more: Case Study | How Brands Build Genuine Communities Community is too often reduced to a buzzword, but when cultivated correctly, it can be one of fashion's most powerful means for engaging customers and building loyalty, particularly in times of economic uncertainty. This case study looks at examples of brands that have successfully created thriving fan communities and their approaches to creating lasting and rewarding relationships with their customers.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive: Outdoor Voices founder Ty Haney raises $11 million for her second startup
– Loyalty program. Outdoor Voices founder Ty Haney launched her second startup, Try Your Best (or TYB), more than three years ago. It was peak Web3, a space that Haney became highly interested in after she left the athletic apparel retailer that, in some ways, defined 2010s startups. Today, Haney is still building TYB, with 38 employees—and it's outlasted the rise and fall of blockchain/crypto/NFT-mania. The platform is intended to be a layer of loyalty infrastructure for consumer brands, what Haney calls 'community commerce.' Two hundred brands use the platform, as do 2 million users—mostly Gen Z women. Haney just raised an $11 million Series A for TYB, Fortune is the first to report. The round was co-led by Offline Ventures and Strobe Ventures, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, and Unusual Ventures. This brings its total capital to $23.5 million. Talking to Haney about TYB, you can feel her excitement. Years after the drama that engulfed Outdoor Voices, which included board battles and Haney's exit and return, she's thrilled to be at step one again. 'I love this stage. I love building something from zero,' she says. The brands that use TYB include several of the buzziest brands from the beauty industry—like Glossier, Rare Beauty, and Saie. 'Beauty as a category has popped off significantly for us,' Haney says. '[Beauty] consumers are already creating so much content and participating in rituals around the brands.' There's also Poppi, Urban Outfitters, Set Active. Coming soon to the platform are Crocs and Away. Consumers on TYB participate in gamified challenges, earn collectibles, and have blockchain-enabled loyalty profiles that can potentially follow them from brand to brand. A TYB-using customer has 40% higher frequency of purchase and a 28% higher lifetime value, Haney says. Monthly engagement rates for brands crack 40%. Haney tells brands that TYB can drive 5% to 10% of revenue—'in a more profitable fashion than putting all your dollars against Instagram or Facebook.' TYB is developing 'affinity webs' that can map a user's loyalty to one brand and apply it to another. 'Within the Glossier community where I'm level three—can that mean something to Nike?' Haney explains. She's brought some lessons with her from Outdoor Voices and the tens of millions it raised. 'I've become a lot more sophisticated, or precise, in terms of who I who I raise money from, how much money I raise, and ultimately considerate of ownership and as little dilution as possible,' she says. Emma The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune's daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today's edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
