BeachMint

BeachMint, a social commerce company, was founded in October 2010 by Myspace co-founder Josh Berman and serial entrepreneur Diego Berdakin. The founders, both with backgrounds in building internet businesses, identified a market opportunity to merge e-commerce with celebrity influence. Berdakin, the son of Argentinian immigrants, had an early interest in programming and later worked at News Corp.'s digital incubator, Slingshot Labs, where he built companies for major brands. Berman also had a tenure at Slingshot Labs after serving as COO of MySpace until its sale to News Corp.

The company operated on a subscription-based model, offering personalized product recommendations to its members. Its business strategy centered on launching a portfolio of direct-to-consumer brands, each curated by a celebrity and a relevant industry expert. This approach aimed to provide an exclusive and personal online shopping experience. Revenue was generated through monthly subscriptions for access to these curated product lines.

BeachMint's product offerings were segmented into several vertical brands. The first, JewelMint, launched in October 2010 with actress Kate Bosworth and her stylist Cher Coulter. This was followed by StyleMint in July 2011 with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen; BeautyMint in October 2011 with Jessica Simpson; and ShoeMint in November 2011 in collaboration with actress Rachel Bilson, her stylist Nicole Chavez, and Steve Madden. The company later expanded into home goods with HomeMint, curated by Justin Timberlake and interior designer Estee Stanley, and intimate apparel with intiMINT.

The company experienced rapid growth, securing significant venture capital funding, including a $23.5 million round in June 2011 and a $35 million round in January 2012, with investors such as Accel Partners, Goldman Sachs, and Trinity Ventures. By early 2012, BeachMint had raised a total of $75 million. In August 2014, media giant Condé Nast merged BeachMint with its fashion publication, Lucky Magazine, to create a new entity called The Lucky Group, with Berman as CEO. This move was designed to integrate BeachMint's e-commerce technology and operations with Lucky's established editorial content and audience. Keywords: social commerce, subscription box, celebrity brands, e-commerce, direct-to-consumer, fashion tech, personalized shopping, Josh Berman, Diego Berdakin, JewelMint, StyleMint, ShoeMint, BeautyMint, HomeMint, The Lucky Group, Condé Nast, celebrity-curated, online retail, subscription model