Our partner CUUP is taking the bra industry by storm and investors are taking note! The direct-to-consumer lingerie start-up offers shoppers the chance for a bra fitting without leaving their homes. But they don’t need to fill out an online form either. Rather, women can schedule a 20- to 30-minute video conference call with a fit therapist. Yeah, you heard us correctly!
CUUP has closed an $11 million series A investment round led by private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners, bringing the total funding amount to $15 million.
“What we’ve seen with our brand is that when you get someone in the right size upfront, the retention rate is multiples over what we’ve seen with other brands in the category,” founder O’Molony said. “You see a lot of noise in this category. But there’s a lot of folks out there where the product doesn’t stand on its own two feet. And you see customers who will try it once and then won’t come back and try it again.”
CUUP offers unlined, underwire bras in four different silhouettes across 40 sizes — 30A to 38H — along with a selection of panties, at shopcuup.com. All bras are $68.
The business, which employs about 20 full-time associates, plans to hire more fit therapists with the latest investment (there are currently only three), while also exploring additional product categories and technical features on its web site, investing in inventory and building out the omnichannel, including the possibility of a retail store in late 2020 or even venturing into wholesale.
“Bras are an inherently highly loyal category,” O’Molony said. “It works online when you have people in the right fit.” Keep reading on WWD
Boobs are complicated.
They are different shapes, sizes, and densities. The bigger they are, the more support they need.
For a long time, the bra industry has tried to make women believe they are “too big” or “too small.” By squeezing 100% of women and their boobs into 15 standard sizes, companies were able to justify a lack of thoughtfulness and quality. It’s easier and cheaper to make a bra without a considered foundation. You’ve probably been told, “Sorry, we don’t make it in that size.” But 66% of women in the U.S. wear a D-cup or larger. Which means ⅔ of the female population has been largely ignored.
At CUUP, we believe the bras you wear should be made to fit you, not the other way around.