Brandless

Brandless is an American e-commerce company that manufactures and sells products under its own Brandless label. Founded by Ido Leffler and Tina Sharkey, it launched in July 2017 with a selection of 115 items, many of them marketed as healthy and environmentally-conscious. On 10 February 2020, Brandless and key investor SoftBank confirmed that Brandless was terminating its operations. The company subsequently advertised that it would relaunch in the summer of 2020. Less than 6 months later, Brandless re-opened as a trading name of Onward Partners, LLC, a joint partnership of marketing firm Ikonifi and Clarke Capital Partners. 
History.
Sharkey and Leffler met while both were living in Mill Valley, California. Sharkey, the founder of iVillage and the former CEO of BabyCenter, had a background in online communities, and Leffler, the founder of several companies, including Yes To, Inc. and Yoobi, had experience in consumer products.
In mid-2016, Sharkey resigned from her position as CEO of Sherpa Foundry to become CEO of Brandless, with Leffler serving as its chairman. The company raised $16 million in funding led by Redpoint Ventures in November 2016, and at launch had received a total of $50 million in venture capital from New Enterprise Associates, Google Ventures, and others.
In 2018, the company launched a pop-up store in Los Angeles in May. Brandless launched a second, larger pop-up store in New York in October 2018.
In May 2019, Brandless raised $240 million as a part of its series C funding round. Soon after, Tina Sharkey stepped down as CEO after friction between her and lead investor SoftBank Vision. 
In February 2020, Brandless announced that it would cease operations, citing fierce competition and business model inviability in the direct-to-consumer market. The business laid off 70 staff members (about 90% of the operation at the time), with the remaining employees managing open orders.
In June 2020, the business relaunched in a more limited form, led by Ryan Treft and a small team. Treft bidded for the business with a "more pragmatic" vision.
Business model.
Brandless was based in San Francisco, California, and operated an additional facility in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It marketed its foods as GMO-free, its health and beauty items as cruelty-free, and paper products as adhering to sustainable forestry practices. Products' labels consist of only a white box with the product's name and two to five descriptors, such as organic, kosher, or gluten-free. Brandless is a brand of its own.
The company operated a direct-to-consumer model which it promoted as reducing markups compared to conventional brand-name items. Initially, Brandless priced single items at $3, or multiple items for $3 total. That policy changed in January 2019 and higher-priced products were offered.
In 2019, Brandless began to offer an optional subscription service to its customers.
Awards and recognition.
In February 2018, Brandless received the Best NewCo of the Year award from NewCo Honors for disrupting retail markets and donating 250,000 meals to Feeding America. Additionally, it was awarded "StartUp of the Year" by "AdAge", one of "The World' Most Innovative Companies in Retail" by Fast Company.