KIKI, a community commerce company launched in early 2023, has completed its initial funding round with investors including a16z crypto and The Estée Lauder Companies’ New Incubation Ventures (NIV), as it opens its platform to a variety of creators and brands.
Other investors in KIKI include: consumer-tech funds Double Down, 2Punks Capital and Advancit, digital communities RedDao and OrangeDao, and the digital creator GMoney. 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 World’s initial launch featured connected beauty products co-created by the KIKI World community. Using its proprietary platform and blockchain infrastructure, KIKI has created a new way for consumers to connect with each other and brands outside of the historical web2 channels and social media. Their audience has embraced this new approach, where they can co-create products, receive rewards for engagement, participate in product innovation, and connect with other fans. KIKI looks to build consumer brands as dynamic platforms, with products and experiences created by and rewards shared with the communities that use them.
In a joint statement, 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.”
“Consumers are at the heart of what we do at The Estée Lauder Companies,” says Shana Randhava, Senior Vice President, NIV, The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC). “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.”
Since May 2023, KIKI has launched five innovative physical product collections including Skin Development Kit – a skincare line where customers can vote on the key ingredients and launch order; and Pretty Nail Graffiti – an NFC tag enabled nail pen where consumers can choose the next color.
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. From blockchain-powered profiles and collectibles that empower peer-to-peer connections and dynamic rewards, to robust discovery engines and community management tools designed to reward fans first, and platform API’s that enable the creation of incentive-driven engagement campaigns and conversion-focused rewards, KIKI is unlocking the power of the passionate.
KIKI is building a radically new company across its on-chain, online, and real-world ecosystem, inspiring user-centric data ownership, participation rewards, and innovation for the next generation of creators and customers.
Interested in hearing leading global brands discuss subjects like this in person? Find out more about Digital Marketing World Forum (#DMWF) Europe, London, North America, and Singapore.