More funding for beauty startup Sahi Cosmetics
This isn’t the first impressive investment in Shelly Shai’s makeup brand. In August, as Cosmetics Design reported, the Zell Lurie Founders Fund backed Sahi Cosmetics with $100,000 as well.
As Ashka Dave, head of the Zell Founders Fund due diligence team, explained at the time, “Sahi Cosmetics is working to solve a major pain point for millions of women in the United States and around the world.”
Dave went on to say that the fund’s leadership “were very impressed by Shelly’s understanding of the market and strategies to effectively monetize and scale her products within it. We believe that she has all the ingredients necessary for a successful venture, and we’re glad that we could help her along the way.”
Rise of the Rest
On Wednesday, October 11th, eight startup companies pitched their businesses to billionaire investor Steve Case; Dan Gilbert, the CEO of Quicken Loans; and Scott DeRue, the Edward J. Frey Dean of Michigan Ross (the school of business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor); as well to a group of judges.
“She is the epitome of an entrepreneur who knows her business and the industry,” Marlin Williams, a judge for Rise of the Rest remarked at the event, according to an item on the Ross News Blog. Williams went on to note that “[Sahi] is courageous enough to build an entire brand, not just a product, in a market that is saturated.”
Shelly Sahi was a student at the Ross school of business when she launched her company; and when accepting the funding at last week’s competition, she acknowledged, that “there have been a lot of people in this community who have helped me get to this point, given me mentorship and advice and guidance,” as the blog reports. And she contextualized this latest funding achievement in the same light, saying “I think this is a win for Ann Arbor.”
