Startup Spotlight #25: Intimately.co
Intimately.co is a one-stop-shop for disability-inclusive lingerie.
I got the chance to speak with Emma Butler, founder and CEO of intimately.co, about what she’s working on at her startup, and any advice she has for emerging entrepreneurs.
Butler started Intimately while at Brown University studying apparel design and painting. She will attend Duke Fuqua for her MBA in the future. She also worked at a YC startup, Actiondesk (B2B Saas) as the only non-technical hire and created and executed marketing and sales strategy bringing the company from 2 customers to 24, ($300 to $4,000 MRR, $5 million valuation to $12 million) including Kleiner Perkins, First Round, and Front App as customers.
On a personal note, Butler’s mother was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and other autoimmune illnesses about 10 years ago. She watched first hand her mother struggle with shopping and ultimately the toll it took on her confidence. Butler was always interested in fashion and so decided to combine my passion for apparel design and the desire to help her mom at intimately.co.
intimately.co is a one-stop-shop for disability-inclusive lingerie. Here at Intimately, fashion meets function - we introduce the newest fashion technology for easy dressing. Our goal is to bring confidence to millions of disabled women through a better lingerie shopping experience - an experience that helps define a woman's femininity, personal identity, and self-assurance.
Startup Spotlight: Intimately.co
Intimately.co founder Emma Butler.
Problem: Imagine trying to get on underwear when you are in a wheelchair and have paralysis. It’s nearly impossible to bend over and put them on, thus these women have no other option but to wear medical-grade underwear for old ladies.
Market: 600 million disabled women globally account for an untapped market and these 600 million women represent $500 billion dollars in disposable income. The global adaptive apparel market is projected to be worth $392 billion dollars by 2023* (Forbes).
Solution: Intimately.co is an online retailer that sells the best adaptive undergarments. Products on Intimately.co are extremely easy to get on for a range of different disabilities, comfortable while on all day, easy to get off, but also stylish.
Team: Our CFO, Julia Xu has worked at Disney, Alibaba, and McKinsey and our Community Director Alyssa Silva started her own nonprofit for raising awareness for her disability, SMA. Our team also consists of 7 interns from Brown, Cornell, and Boston University.
Recent Success:
Butler: At Intimately, we have fostered a safe community where disabled women can share personal stories about sex, love, fashion, beauty, and lifestyle. We are growing our following with over 200 Instagram followers per week and have been swamped recently with amazing stories. We are working to leverage this strength and create a community on our forum to create an even closer-knit community. We've also been successful at pitching. We've placed in two pitch competition: second place at Brown University's Venture Prize and first place at Smith College's draper competition.
Recent Struggle:
Butler: We've struggled with investors, especially male investors, understanding our market size and target demographics. The adaptive apparel market is bigger than the teen clothing market, but it still seems hard for investors to understand the magnitude of our potential. Overcoming ableism will continue to be a challenge. Even when we meet with people who like our mission, sometimes they say ableist microaggressions that make us turn away. It is super important that all the women on our team are comfortable with the investors and we do not allow for any ableist tendencies.
Founder Advice:
Butler: Hire up! Only hire people that are better than you. My team knows more than me and that is amazing! I want the best folks on my team in order to grow Intimately.
Three Cool Founders You Should Know About:
Butler: Here are three founders you should check out next!
Chuck Isgar, Founder of Intern from Home: Intern From Home connects highly qualified students with forward-thinking companies for virtual internships.
Maggie Bachenberg, Founder of Pointz: Pointz is a mobile app that allows people to create safe, customized micro-mobility routes.
Diana Perkins, Founder of LapSnap: A product design firm with the goal of empowering individuals with disabilities around the world.
Who should I profile next? Leave your suggestion in the comments:
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