About Universal Standard
Universal Standard is a company based in New York (United States) founded in 2015 by Alexandra Waldman and Polina Veksler. Universal Standard has raised $14.03 million across 5 funding rounds from investors including Imaginary Ventures, Red Sea Ventures and Gwyneth Paltrow. The company has 7 employees. Universal Standard has completed 1 acquisition, including Henning. Universal Standard operates in a competitive market with competitors including ELOQUII, CoEdition, Ritera, And Comfort and Alpine Parrot, among others.
- Headquarter New York, United States
- Employees 7
- Founders Alexandra Waldman, Polina Veksler
- SectorsRetail
- Website category Lifestyle · Fashion and Apparel
- Email••••••••
- Phone•••• ••••
- Website universalstandard.com
- Social LinkedIn X Facebook Instagram
- Legal Name Universal Standard Inc.
- Total Equity Funding$14.03M (USD)
in 5 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$9.93M (USD), Series A
Feb 2018
- InvestorsImaginary Ventures
& 2 more
- Employee Count7
- Investments & Acquisitions
Funding Insights of Universal Standard
Universal Standard has successfully raised a total of $14.03M across 5 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series A round of $9.93 million completed in February 2018. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $14.03M
- Total Rounds 5
- Last Round Series A — $9.93M
- First Round $850,000
(Jun 2016)
- Investors Count 3
All 5 funding rounds of Universal Standard with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2018 | $9.93M | Series A | – | Imaginary, Red Sea Ventures | – |
| Oct 2017 | $1.1M | Seed | – | – | – |
| Aug 2017 | $1.5M | Seed | – | – | |
| May 2017 | $643,505 | Seed | – | – | – |
| Jun 2016 | $850,000 | Seed | – | – | – |
3 investors in total: 2 institutional and 1 angel.
Investors in Universal Standard
Universal Standard has secured backing from 3 investors, including venture fund and angel investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Imaginary Ventures, Red Sea Ventures and Gwyneth Paltrow.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail and technology startups are funded by Imaginary venture capital. | – | imaginary.co | New York, United States | |
Venture capital investment firm based out of USA | – | redseaventures.com | New York, United States | |
GP Gwyneth Paltrow | Actress, entrepreneur, founder of Goop, occasional angel investor in wellness startups. | – | unknown_f6e18e99a3a74a1fa | - |
Investor details for Universal Standard
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
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- Round participation
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People of Universal Standard
15 people are tracked at Universal Standard (9 in leadership, 6 in team); the tracked headcount is 7.
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Alexandra Waldman | Co-Founder & Creative Director | Leadership |
Polina Veksler | Co-Founder & CEO | Leadership |
Jason Rappaport | Head of Retail | Leadership |
Vicki Smith | CFO / COO | Leadership |
Stephanie Nelson | Senior Director of Operations | Leadership |
Ramon Martin | Chief Creative Officer (cco) | Leadership |
Michelle Min Hwa Lee | Vice President, Product Development + Supply Chain | Leadership |
Nicole Bender | Vice President - Marketing & Ecommerce | Leadership |
Rachel Bekkerman | Head Of Brand Marketing | Leadership |
Lillian Christiansen Bond | Senior Manager of CRM & Retention | Team |
Monica Mulloy | VIP Customer Service Manager | Team |
Leeron Skurnik | Senior Designer | Team |
Bridget R. | Ecommerce Manager | Team |
Allison Edgerton | Strategic Advisor | Team |
Elizabeth Raguseo | Associate Manager Of Social Media And Influencer Marketing | Team |
Complete people profiles for Universal Standard
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
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Investments & Acquisitions by Universal Standard
Universal Standard has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 1 company. Notable acquisitions include Henning.
| Company Name | Description | Domain | Location | Founded | Acquired | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brand of coats, jackets, pants, bottoms, sweaters, denim, and workwear | henningnyc.com | New York, United States | 2019 | Apr 2023 | •••• |
Complete acquisition details for Universal Standard
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- Acquired stakes
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Timeline of Universal Standard
4 dated milestones of Universal Standard across 8 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Universal Standard is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $850K.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series A, of $9.9M.
- Acquisition Acquires Henning.
Competitors of Universal Standard
Universal Standard operates in a dynamic and competitive business environment, facing competition from various established players and emerging companies in the market. The competitive landscape includes prominent companies such as ELOQUII, CoEdition, Ritera, And Comfort and Alpine Parrot, among others.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eloquii.com | 2011 | Columbus, United States | $23.25M | – | Multi-category fashion items for plus-size women are sold online. | |
| coedition.com | 2017 | New York, United States | $12.76M | – | Women's plus-sized apparel is sold via an online marketplace. | |
| ritera.com | 2010 | Brooklyn, United States | – | 4 | Provides fashionable plus-size apparel for women through online retail platform. | |
| andcomfort.com | 2017 | San Francisco, United States | $120,000 | – | Operates a direct-to-consumer brand of plus-sized apparel for women. | |
| alpineparrot.com | 2019 | Pacific Grove, United States | – | – | Outdoor apparel for plus-sized women is offered via online platform. | |
| jayvictoria.com | 2022 | Minneapolis, United States | – | – | Internet first brand offering plus-size casual wear for women | |
| mxappareldesign.com | 2018 | Minneapolis, United States | – | – | Plus-size casual apparel for men and women is sold online. | |
| shegulny.com | 2014 | New York, United States | – | – | Runs a direct-to-consumer brand for women's apparel. |
Detailed competitors of Universal Standard
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
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Web traffic of Universal Standard
The website of Universal Standard (universalstandard.com) receives about 782.9K visits a month and ranks #49,464 among all websites worldwide, #2,429 in Fashion and Apparel.
- Monthly visits782.9K
▼ 13.1% vs previous month
- Unique visitors408K
per month
- Global rank#49,464
among all websites
- Category rank#2,429
Lifestyle · Fashion and Apparel
- Bounce rate33%
- Pages per visit4.3
- Average visit1 min 57 sec
- DevicesDesktop 16% · Mobile 84%
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Universal Standard. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| torrid.com | 100% | 9M | #4,213 | View details | |
| madewell.com | 95% | – | #7,444 | View details | |
| eloquii.com | 94% | 1.6M | #19,860 | View details | |
gap.com | gap.com | 93% | – | #343 | – |
| jcrew.com | 93% | 14.2M | #1,802 | View details | |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 40 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Universal Standard
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- 40 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Latest news on Universal Standard
Complete news archive for Universal Standard
Full article history, source details, and older brand coverage require an active premium plan.
- Full article archive
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Similar companies to Universal Standard
10 companies that operate in the same segment as Universal Standard (Fashion & Lifestyle E-Commerce), ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eyewear is offered online for men, women, and kids. | 2010 | Gurugram, Haryana, India | USD 1.08 B | USD 939.4 M | – | |
Fashion and lifestyle products are offered via an online marketplace. | 2007 | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | USD 123.71 M | USD 542.17 M | 1,108 | |
Gold and silver jewellery, lab-grown diamonds, and accessories are retailed. | 2019 | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | USD 142.34 M | USD 32.66 M | 711 | |
Photo editing and sharing apps are developed by Meitu. | 2008 | Xiamen, Fujian, China | USD 525 M | USD 536.99 M | 2,420 | |
Subscription-based jewelry is provided by digital-first brand BlueStone. | 2011 | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | USD 254.97 M | USD 259.64 M | 3,210 | |
Men's fashion apparel is offered online by Bonobos. | 2007 | New York, New York, United States | USD 127.67 M | – | – | |
Metabolic health is tracked via devices and fitness platforms. | 2019 | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | USD 163.28 M | USD 65.48 M | 274 | |
Pre-owned fashion products are sold via an online marketplace. | 2008 | Vilnius, Lithuania | USD 872.04 M | – | – | |
Online rental platform offering multi-category fashion products and accessories | 2009 | New York, New York, United States | USD 326.35 M | USD 306.2 M | 850 | |
Customizable smart lock screen experiences are developed for mobile devices. | 2019 | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | USD 390 M | – | – |
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Frequently Asked Questions about Universal Standard
Universal Standard was founded in 2015 and raised its 1st funding round 1 year after it was founded.
Universal Standard is headquartered in New York, United States. It is registered at New York, New York, United States.
Polina Veksler is the current CEO of Universal Standard. They have also founded this company.
Universal Standard is a funded company, having raised a total of $14.03M across 5 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $850K, raised on Jun 2016.
Universal Standard has 7 employees.
Universal Standard was founded in 2015 in New York, United States, as a brand focused on plus-size apparel for women. Products such as dresses, tops, bottoms, coats, workwear, activewear, sweaters, tees, jeans, pants, leggings, skirts, and accessories are offered. Items are distributed through an online platform and company-owned stores within the apparel sector.
Universal Standard's top competitors include ELOQUII, CoEdition and Alpine Parrot.
Universal Standard has made 1 acquisition, including Henning.
Universal Standard has 3 investors. Key investors include Imaginary Ventures, Red Sea Ventures, and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Universal Standard operates through Universal Standard Inc..
The website of Universal Standard receives about 783 thousand visits a month and ranks #49,464 among all websites worldwide.