Brüush, a Vancouver-based direct-to-consumer e-commerce startup selling electric toothbrushes, has raised $6.5 million CAD in Series A financing.
The investment came from a syndicate of investors and was facilitated by Gravitas Securities, which offers investment banking services. Brüush has refused to disclose who invested in its Series A round, but told BetaKit the syndicate included institutional investors. The funds will be put toward strategic marketing initiatives, increasing brand awareness, and growing Brüush’s subscriber base. The startup claims this round was oversubscribed, surpassing its original $4 million target.
“Our aim is to create a frictionless experience for consumers to upgrade from manual to electric.”
– Aneil Manhas, Brüush
“We are extremely grateful for and humbled by the support from our investors and the Canadian capital markets in these unprecedented and historic times,” said Drew Green, co-founder and chairman of Brüush. “Aneil [Manhas, co-founder and CEO of Brüush] and his team are on a mission to disrupt the banal oral care market, bringing a better product at a better price and delivering a better experience for consumers.”
According to Allied Market Research, the global electric toothbrush market was valued at $2.2 billion USD in 2016, and is projected to reach $3.7 billion USD by 2023. Brüush is a subscription-based toothbrush company that aims to help the consumers make the switch from manual to electric toothbrushes. In 2019, the startup soft-launched and raised an undisclosed round of seed financing.
RELATED: E-commerce startup Mobify to be acquired by Salesforce
Brüush claims it can disrupt the market through three key features: the professional quality cleaning of its toothbrush, savvy design, and a brush head subscription model. The startup is specifically targeting health-conscious consumers in the Gen Z and millennial demographic.
“Our aim is to create a frictionless experience for consumers to upgrade from manual to electric, as dentists generally agree that using an electric toothbrush is significantly better for your oral health,” said CEO Manhas.
Brüush is not the first oral care company to use a subscription-based model for delivering brush heads. Quip, based in Brooklyn, New York, offers a battery-powered electric toothbrush and claims to be the first to market a direct-to-consumer oral care subscription service.
Brüush was founded by Manhas, a former investment banker, and Green, who is also CEO of Indochino and has founded a number of Canadian tech companies, including Shop.ca, Emerge Commerce, Apollo Exchange, CLC Network, and Yourika, among others.
UPDATE 09/10/2020: This story has been updated to note that Gravitas Securities did not lead or participate in the Series A round.
Image source Brüush via CNW Group.