Brandless shuts down operations, becoming SoftBank Vision Fund's first failure

It was, from the start, very obviously one of those high-octane attempts to manufacture something huge, not an organic growth play. Brandless had raised more than $50 million in venture capital pre-launch — unusual at the time — and later attracted a mega-round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund.

From the beginning, Brandless painted itself into a corner: At $3 per item, it’s hard to make a profit selling high quality consumer and food products unless you’re driving huge volume. For customers, ordering enough $3 items to hit a free-shipping minimum can be exhausting.

Brandless also suffered from a lack of focus and quality, offering everything from spatulas to pet food to candy, to blenders. Doing everything, but none of it particularly well.

Brandless was primarily felled by a thesis that never panned out — that there were young consumers who craved a digital middle ground between dollar stores and malls. People who were price-sensitive, cared somewhat about quality, but not about brands. Walmart for hipsters. Trader Joe's for millennials.

Brandless launched in 2017 with hundreds of products and immediately received a lot of attention — good and bad.

And it sounded like a giant contradiction — a slick, Red Antler-crafted brand called Brandless? — which made it a popular topic for discussion. A lot of industry people seemed to want to see it sink.