quip, a Brooklyn-based oral health company, announced that it has raised $40 million in funding in a combination of equity and debt financing. The equity round of financing was led by existing investor Sherpa Capital along with debt financing from Triplepoint Capital. The funding will be used to support the launch of upcoming products and professional care services. quip has now raised a total of more than $60 million in funding.
“My co-founder Bill May and I built quip with the vision to create a full-service oral care platform that serves every oral care need, from the products our members use every day, to the professional care services they require at least twice a year,” said quip co-founder and CEO Simon Enever in a statement. “We’ve been working closely with our full time dental professional staff and ever-expanding provider network to make the full range of dental products and professional care services more simple, accessible and enjoyable to more people. Our momentum is extremely strong, and this additional funding will allow us to further scale the business while investing more into growing our operations and talented team.”
Photo: quip
quip has sold more than one million of its electric toothbrushes through its direct to consumer website since it launched in late 2015, which are accepted by the American Dental Association. Last month, quip also expanded into an omni-channel approach through a nationwide launch into Target’s retail stores. With this funding round, quip will further its subscriber growth through more omnichannel programs such as the launch of the “Practice program.”
In May, quip acquired a dental insurance company called Manhattan-based Afora. Through this acquisition, quip is pushing for a mission to offer a more simple and affordable alternative to dental insurance for millions of potential consumers through its website and via partnerships and employers. Afora is the first company to join quip Labs, which is a venture studio that was created to foster innovation of emerging oral health products and services.
“We are thrilled to significantly increase our investment in quip ahead of several new growth initiatives across distribution, product expansion, and new service offerings,” added Sherpa Capital partner Brian Yee. “We are impressed by how quickly the team has been able to reach over 1 million consumers and how Simon is leveraging his design mindset beyond just physical products to architect a completely new end-to-end oral care experience for both consumers and dental providers.”
quip is known as the largest oral care subscription service with a digital platform and is able to connect its millions of users to a growing network of more than 25,000 dental professionals. The subscription service is based on a dentist recommended schedule for brush heads and optional toothpaste, ongoing oral health advice, and incentives for timely dental check-ups. And quip’s toothbrush facilitates better brushing habits by guiding users through a two-minute clean using sensitive vibrating bristles that pulses every 30 seconds.
“quip’s initial direct-to-consumer success, and more recently its immediately impressive launch in retail is a clear indication that quip is a leader among brands working to solve age-old oral health problems. The quip team has built meaningful relationships with their users and dental professionals through oral health content, and they’re uniquely poised to improve the entire oral care routine for their growing community,” explained TriplePoint Capital CEO Jim Labe. “We’re thrilled to partner with them on their mission to further increase access to proper oral care.”
