Julep, social media-fueled beauty brand, gets funding boost from Silicon Valley firm

SEATTLE — A growing beauty brand led by a former executive from Starbucks has secured more than $10 million in financing from a Silicon Valley venture capital firm.

Julep Beauty, founded by Jane Park, said it received $10.3 million in Series B financing from Andreessen Horowitz, led by former Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen. Maveron — the venture capital firm co-founded by investor Dan Levitan and Starbucks chairman and CEO Howard Schultz — participated in the funding.

"I started Julep out of a passion for connecting with my sisters and girlfriends through beauty," Park said. "For me, beauty is about connection, not competition. So my vision is to bring a new social approach to the beauty industry by having a two-way conversation online with our fans, incorporating their ideas directly into our rapid product innovation cycle."

Park has grown Julep as a multichannel brand fueled by digital and social media, the company said, saying that "unparalleled innovation" and speed-to-market, coupled with vocal social media engagement instead of traditional marketing, have enabled it to produce more products in 18 months than any other beauty company. In that time, the company has launched 52 new beauty products, including mascaras, lip glosses and glycolic scrubs, as well as 186 nail colors.