Investing in Thirty Madison and their flagship brand, Keeps
Northzone and Maveron co-lead $15.25 million Series A investment
Impressed by the early success of Keeps — the consumer-friendly brand for men experiencing hair loss, the relentless focus on the customer, the operational excellence of a complex business — and the health conditions on their ambitious roadmap, Northzone is thrilled to join Maveron, FirstRound, and Greycroft, in a $15.25 million Series A investment in Thirty Madison.
I’ve learned as a still relatively new investor, it’s easier to develop conviction in a startup if you have some personal experience in the market they’re going after. Although I’m not a Keeps customer (yet, at least), we were quickly able to see the problem they’re solving. In the early 2000’s, I built websites for companies large and small with a friend and fellow engineering student to help pay for university. For whatever reason, many of those projects were for big pharmaceutical companies with products that treated conditions like COPD, allergies / hay fever, depression, erectile dysfunction, herpes, and other conditions.
The process of building these sites always felt a bit odd. Big pharmaceutical companies would invest a small fortune paying agencies to launch a drug product website that educated the market on a particular condition, supported by significant marketing campaigns to drive traffic, with practically no way for the affected customer to perform a digital action to try or buy the product. Instead, they could only advise the customer to “consult their doctor or pharmacist”. As a result, these websites and the expensive traffic they paid to acquire were completely unattributable, and buried with the rest of their brand marketing expenses. Furthermore, there was no way to establish a long-term connection to the consumer. At a time when digital commerce was starting to prove it’s value, this felt like a gross misuse of technology. But, adding a “buy now” button for a regulated pharmaceutical product is obviously more complicated than it is for a book or DVD.
When we met Thirty Madison, we saw a team passionate about solving this inefficiency at scale, addressing the most common conditions impacting consumers on a regular basis. Supported by a network of doctors accessible over the Internet, with specific knowledge of particular conditions, consumers get medical advice directing them to the most appropriate treatment for their situation. Instead of only prescribing one specific treatment, which may not be the best for a particular person, doctors create a custom treatment plan which is then delivered directly to the consumer’s home. From there, Thirty Madison keeps track of your progress, adjusting your treatment based on results, while informing you of any medical advancements or lifestyle changes you can take advantage of to further improve your chances of a positive outcome.
It’s rare, but we love finding teams that solve inefficiencies in a way that delivers significantly more value at a lower cost to the consumer. Thirty Madison does this while reaching an audience completely unserved by the status quo, with nearly 80% of Keeps customers having never seen a doctor for hair loss before. Instead of waiting over a month to see an expensive specialist, consumers can hear from a licensed physician with a diagnosis and treatment plan recommendation within one hour. We all know healthcare is broken, and consumers are on the receiving end of a bad experience that’s only getting worse. Northzone is proud to be partnering with Steve, Demetri, and the Thirty Madison team as they work to expand access to high-quality, affordable care for healthcare consumers.
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