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If you think that choosing a nail polish color or which ingredients go into your face cream cannot have anything to do with blockchain, think again.<\/span><\/p>\n Kiki World<\/span><\/a>, a beauty startup launched last year, wants consumers to co-create products and co-own the company with the help of web3 technology.<\/span><\/p>\n On Tuesday, LA-based Kiki announced that it raised a $7 million seed round from the Andreessen Horowitz crypto fund and The Est\u00e9e Lauder Companies\u2019 New Incubation Ventures, along with other backers such as OrangeDao and 2Punks Capital.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Kiki co-founder Jana Bobosikova said she believes that being a loyal user of a brand in the Web 2.0 world could be a net negative experience. \u201cYou probably have watched a lot of creators on TikTok recommend it to you. You probably recommended it to all your friends. And what do you get for that? Just more retargeted ads,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n Kiki is flipping that model by allowing its community members to vote on the features they want before the beauty products are made. As a reward, voters earn points toward free products and receive digital tokens in the company.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a dynamic that the internet and your bathroom have not seen yet,\u201d Bobosikova said.<\/span><\/p>\n And since it\u2019s not uncommon for cosmetics companies to find themselves with large piles of inventory they cannot sell, another benefit of Kiki\u2019s on-demand approach is that it uses less capital and resources.<\/span><\/p>\n Although members\u2019 product votes are recorded on Ethereum, Bobosikova said some participants don\u2019t need to know they are taking action on blockchain. Users can sign in with an email, and voila, Kiki has created an on-chain account that will store the members\u2019 votes into perpetuity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n a16z decided to back Kiki after the startup completed its <\/span>10-week crypto startup accelerator program<\/span><\/a>. \u201cJana is a force of nature. She was one of the things that most drew us to the company,\u201d said Ariana Simpson, a general partner at the firm. \u201cShe has incredible expertise in the beauty space, but also a unique understanding of web3, which is not always something we see if we have a founder coming out of a more traditional industry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Prior to founding Kiki, the Czech-born Bobosikova was the CEO of Epic Future Labs, a product development and brand innovations agency.<\/span><\/p>\n Simpson noted that Kiki is not the firm\u2019s only bet on a company that rewards customers using blockchain technology. Last year, a16z led a <\/span>$24 million Series A of Blackbird Labs<\/span><\/a>, a hospitality tech company that developed a loyalty program that incentivizes guests to dine in independent restaurants.<\/span><\/p>\n For now, Kiki has launched five product collections, including a nail polish pen, for which consumers can choose the next color Kiki will manufacture.<\/span><\/p>\n But, as Simpson pointed out, Kiki has plans to eventually expand beyond the world of beauty.<\/span><\/p>\n How long will it be until it\u2019s possible to vote on jeans styles or purse sizes? Perhaps a while.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe have faced insane challenges on the physical side of things,\u201d Bobiskova said, adding that some products take much longer to manufacture than others. \u201cThe power of asking people what they want and giving it to them, it\u2019s very, very simple. It\u2019s just very hard to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n