Tech is stalling. Client is surging. And in case you’re nonetheless ready for the return of conventional VC exits – you’re already behind.
Right here’s the arduous reality: liquidity has dried up in enterprise tech. IPOs are trickling.
M&A offers have slowed to a crawl. Based on PitchBook’s 2023 US VC Valuation Report, exits within the tech house are down greater than 80% from their 2021 peak.
The trade that after chased scale in any respect prices is now staring down an extended street of delayed returns and overinflated portfolios.
However whereas Silicon Valley waits, women-owned client manufacturers are constructing worthwhile, scalable and culture-defining companies that sensible buyers are lastly waking as much as.
From Lip Gloss to Liquidity: feminine client unicorns
Let’s have a look at the scoreboard:
- MCoBeauty, Australia’s fastest-growing magnificence model, based by Shelley Sullivan in 2020, was acquired at a A$1 billion valuation earlier this yr by DBG’s Dennis Bastas, who purchased a half stake in 2022, following mass retail partnerships and founder-led execution. Gross sales are anticipated to high $328m in FY25.
- Rhode, co-founded by Hailey Bieber, 28, hit a US$100 million valuation in beneath two years. She offered it to e.l.f. final month for US$1bn. Strategic help from Nick Vlahos (ex-Trustworthy Co.) helped Rhode scale quick with a community-first, SKU-light mannequin.
- Touchland, remodeled hand sanitiser right into a premium, high-design product now offered by means of Sephora, Ulta, and Goal and founder Andrea Lisbona signed a deal price as much as US$880m (A$1.36bn) final month.
Add to that: Cay Pores and skin, OUAI, Summer season Fridays, and Tower 28 every led by visionary girls redefining what client scale seems to be like.
These manufacturers aren’t simply constructing cult followings – they’re constructing empires.
In truth, the Glossier flagship retailer in New York now generates extra income per sq. metre than the Apple Retailer, proving that when girls personal the model, the client, and the expertise, the outcomes communicate for themselves.
These aren’t anomalies. They’re alerts of a seismic shift. Girls founders are executing with readability, culture-fit, and industrial traction.
These manufacturers don’t simply have hype – they’ve margins, loyal followings, and omnichannel scale. Most significantly? They’re delivering returns.
In the meantime, in tech…
VC-backed tech exits are at historic lows. IPOs have plummeted. Secondary markets are stagnant. LPs are anxious. And nonetheless – most buyers overlook client as a viable, scalable asset class, particularly on the early stage. Notably when it’s women-owned.
That’s not simply an oversight. It’s poor portfolio building.
The case for backing girls in product
At F5 Collective, we imagine the following 3 – 5 years of breakout funding returns will come not from tech, however from client. Right here’s why:
- Girls management 80% of client buying energy
- CAC is falling through community-driven, content-first fashions
- Client merchandise drive actual income – usually quicker than SaaS
- Exit paths are various: strategic consumers, rollups, PE, or conglomerates
- And importantly: girls are constructing scalable, defensible firms – not facet hustles, not way of life performs, however companies with product-market match and endurance
The buyer panorama isn’t simply alive – it’s accelerating. The price of launching is decrease than ever. Distribution is borderless. Micro-communities are the brand new conversion engines.
Model expertise is the brand new moat.
And ladies founders? They’re main with unmatched intuition, self-discipline and grit.
What buyers are lacking
Client investing isn’t “straightforward.” It’s brand-reliant, margin-sensitive, and operations-heavy.
That’s why many buyers keep away from it – they don’t have the playbook.
In a market the place capital has grown more and more inaccessible and conventional funding fashions have didn’t evolve, it’s time for a brand new path ahead. One that’s inclusive, commercially rigorous, and truly displays how girls construct.
Client shouldn’t be a distinct segment. It’s not a footnote. It’s the way forward for enterprise.
VCs which might be nonetheless betting the whole lot on deep tech with a 10-year horizon and no income should not simply behind, they’re lacking the wave completely.
The subsequent unicorns gained’t come out of code. They’ll come from tradition, group, and commerce.
And so they’ll be led by girls.