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Dollar Shave Club

Dollar Shave Club

Dollar Shave Club offers a monthly membership service that delivers stainless steel razor blades and other personal grooming products to customers by mail.

Dollar Shave Club is a provider of an online platform intended to offer razor blades and grooming products for men. The company's platform offers blades, shave butter, after shave liquid, wipes and gift cards for men on subscription basis, enabling customers to buy products of their choice. Founded by Mark Levine and Michael Dubin in July 2011, Dollar Shave Club offers home delivery and lower costs compared to similar products.

In 2012, Dollar Shave Club launched the campaign video "Our Blades Are F***ing Great," that introduced the company. As the video went viral, orders reached 12,000 in the first two days. Dollar Shave Club's viral video received an award from Adage, for "Best Out-of-Nowhere Video Campaign," and a Webby Award for best Fashion & Beauty website.

Products

Dollar Shave Club offers three different shaving products: the Humble Twin, the 4X and the Executive. The Humble Twin offers a two blade razor, the 4X offers a 4 blade razor and the Executive offers a 6 blade razor, each at a different monthly price.

Dollar Shave Club launched two new products in 2013, as part of their goal to help customers make smarter choices in their grooming routine. Dr. Carver's Easy Shave Butter to accompany the razors and One Wipe Charlies, a disposable butt wipe for men. In 2014, the company expanded their product line to include Dr. Carver's Magnanimous Post Shave Moisturizer: the ultimate amnesty after the disruptive act of shaving.

They have since offered shower products, including their Wanderer line of body cleansers, face cleansers, shampoo and 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioners. They offer their Grounds Keeper line of deodorant and Antiperspirant, and their Blueprint Cologne.

Acquired

Dollar Shave Club was acquired in July 2016 when Unilever bought them for a reported 1$ billion, cash, for the startup. The transaction marked one of the largest in e-commerce at the time. Venrock and Andreessen Horowitz were among firms who would see large returns for their previous investment in Dollar Shave Club with the sale. Whereas for Battery Ventures and KPCB had sold their shares in Dollar Shave Club prior to the acquisition and did not benefit from the sale.

Timeline

July 20, 2016
Unilever buys Dollar Shave Club for reported $1B value.

Unilever creates and captures a unicorn with its plans to acquire Dollar Shave Club.

November 19, 2015
Dollar Shave Club raises a $90,700,000 series D round from Dragoneer Investment Group, Founders Circle Capital, TCV and Venrock.
September 23, 2014
Dollar Shave Club raises a $50,000,000 series C round from Daniel Curran, Hinge Capital, Marco DeMeireles, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, TCV and Venrock.
October 8, 2013
Dollar Shave Club raises a $12,000,000 series B round from Battery Ventures, Comcast Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital and Venrock.
November 1, 2012
Dollar Shave Club raises a $9,800,000 series A round from Andreessen Horowitz, Felicis Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Shasta Ventures and Venrock.
March 6, 2012
Dollar Shave Club raises a $1,000,000 seed round from Andreessen Horowitz, Cowboy Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Shasta Ventures and White Star Capital.

Funding Rounds

Patents

Further Resources

Title
Author
Link
Type
Date

News

Title
Author
Date
Publisher
Description
Alex Bitter
January 11, 2021
Business Insider
Michael Dubin founded and has led Dollar Shave Club since 2011. Jason Goldberger, the CEO of Sur La Table, will take over at the Unilever-owned brand.
Reviewed
December 17, 2020
USA TODAY
We've rounded up 15 last-minute Christmas gifts that you can not only get on time for the big day, but on sale--shop our top picks.
Robin Wauters
December 6, 2020
Tech.eu
It's Sunday morning, so here's some days-old news because it was largely unreported in English-language media (except for Nordic 9) and deserves some attention. Local Swedish media reported last week that Estrid, a fledging subscription e-commerce business that sells razors "designed foremost for women and non-binary" people, has closed a funding round to the tune [...]
BBC News
November 3, 2019
BBC News
Unilever has made the pledge after its men's grooming brand advertised on controversial site Pornhub.

References

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