7GC Co-Leads Because Market’s $35M Series B Alongside Khosla and Index Ventures
In November, 7GC made its first investment out of the newly announced Fund II, in the The Because Market, a direct-to-consumer personal care company focused on older adults. We participated in a $35M insider-led round alongside Khosla Ventures and Index Ventures, both existing co- investors, and key partners for 7GC.
The Bay Area-based company was founded with the sole purpose of delivering the first true direct-to-consumer personal care company focused on older adults, a dramatically underserved and stigma challenged market worth $7 billion today.
We were fortunate to be connected with the Italian co-founders Alexi Suvacioglu and Luca Gualco early in the Summer 2021. Prior to Because, Alexi founded and sold two venture-funded companies, the most recent one of which was acquired by RetailMeNot – the world’s largest digital coupon marketplace. Alexi also led eBay’s North American AdCommerce, a pay-per-click advertising program in the U.S. and Canada. Luca has spent the last 10 years accelerating growth for some of the most renowned VC-backed businesses of the decade, leading growth teams at Uber (when there were less than 100 employees when he joined), WeWork (less than 50 employees when he joined), and finally Acorns, a financial technology micro and robo-investing company.
Alexi and Luca’s backgrounds rooted in technology, retail, and GTM strategy became evident very early on when evaluating what they have built for Because. This, combined with their unswerving drive for branding and product differentiation, allowed us to gain conviction in their mission to disrupt an enormous $7 billion market that is rarely discussed public forums.
Not unlike 7GC’s prior investment into hims and their first product for erectile dysfunction, The Because Market’s entry point into their target category leveraged an awkward and not frequently talked about need: bladder protection products. The result is that incontinence carries a sigma, leaving a major gap in care and resources for the consumer. The sales process is challenging and poorly designed legacy products remain the leaders in the market. The large market size for incontinence is fragmented and gapped, with 43% of older adults needing incontinence products and 27% never going to see a doctor for the problem. Given that the product is not widely talked about and often dealt with privately, 50% of adults are looking for a new solution built on limited customer service, poor selection, and e-commerce oftentimes being challenging to navigate for older demographics.
As a result, the company has seen its monthly active users triple and revenue double in the last year, all while continuing to innovate by launching new product lines outside of bladder protection products. The company now has multiple products across skincare and supplements, with a total of 7 different product categories and over 80 products.
The Series B round brings The Because Market’s total funding to over $65 million, and the new funds will be used to leverage the company’s go-to-market playbook and to build out its team.
