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Kim Kardashian may not be the typical embodiment of a serious business person in the mind of the public. But in the minds of those with deep pockets, it looks like she’s just the ticket. Her two-year old company, ShoeDazzle.com, which she co-founded with Brian Lee (co-founder of the hugely successful LegalZoom.com, which gained prominence in the early ’00s by partnering with another sort of semi-celebrity, Robert Shapiro, who successfully defended OJ Simpson in his murder trial) has just received a major injection of cash and support.
The venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz plunked $40M into Kim and Brian’s bankroll, reportedly to help fund expansion into both new categories and countries; currently, ShoeDazzle.com is only live in the US and Canada, already garnering 3 million subscribers who pay the monthly fee to have shoes they might like sent to their home on a monthly basis (kind of like those CD clubs of the 90′s, except online). Thanks to this new capital, ShoeDazzle plans to be in the UK and Asia by the end of the year, and in South America after that.
Though Andreessen Horowitz itself is on the newish side with only two years in the investment game, they’ve already lent major cash to companies like Groupon (giving $950M in January) and Foursquare ($20M last year), and Marc Andreeson himself sits on the boards of Facebook, HP and eBay; so yeah, it’s enough of an injection for Kim and Co. to both legitimately grow their company and to make news in a major way. So, are you ready to look past the neo-Marilyn glamour and take Kim as seriously as her business backers? After all, she apparently “idolizes” ands “wants to be” Jennifer Lopez, who pretty much invented the modern version of the one-woman business empire, which was equally as built on genuine hard work as much as dewy skin and big loose curls.