Meet Odile Roujol of Fab Ventures

Today we’d like to introduce you to Odile Roujol.

Hi Odile, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m the founder of Fab Ventures, seed stage, conscious fashion and beauty, new commerce. We are a see-stage Fund based in Los Angeles. LA, in my opinion, will soon be a capital of fashion and is already the capital of indie brands in beauty. It’s a city with multiple and varied influences, multi-ethnic, Asia-focused (vs. NYC = Europe), at the crossroads of tech and content, communities, influencers and celebrities, and obsessed with a “lifestyle”, health and impact. We are fortunate to have built long-term relationships through the Fab community with entrepreneurs – startup founders – and venture capitalists who invest in the same field and in the early stages. And LA is closed to SF, universities and VCs, big platforms help to secure many tech talents. We invest in different locations in the US: Austin, Atlanta, NYC, Philadelphia, and of course California!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s tough for emerging funds in the period, exactly as for founders in seed stage. We just led the first closing of FUND II. We are grateful for already having our anchor investors (CVC in retail, beauty and luxury), making us pretty confident to go towards our ambition of $20M, enabling us to invest $500K to 1M per startup. We welcome family offices, BAs, and institutional investors.

We continue to see some founders with high expectations in seed stage, with little revenue. I believe they should ask VCs what they think of their valuation to save time. We’re here for the long term and help them build their company and scaling globally.

We’ve been impressed with Fab Ventures, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We have invested in 23 companies in Fund I, 90% of them with female founders and underrepresented founders. Latest 3 ones?

⚡️buywith, a frictionless #livestream shopping platform for #retailers and #brands, #influencers, #celebrities, and experts to host Livestream shopping events on retailers’ and brands’ websites. NYC / Tel Aviv

⚡️ Bluebird a software platform that helps consumer brands seamlessly integrate #sustainability into their products and tell authentic sustainability stories. SF

And last but not least Brown Girl Jane in LA, a wellness brand in beauty led by three beauty influencers and black female founders.

I am lucky to back founders (and their co-founders) trusting me, understanding that I bring time and skills to help them grow their business faster, “hands-on” being a solo GP by choice. It is clear that I also open my network to them and also that they help each other on subjects as different as Growth marketing, supply chain, or talents.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Definitely, we should mention the FaB community, founders and investors meeting in person or in webinar. I founded the movement four years ago in San Francisco, and I always learn listening to the guest speakers and me plenty of great people, thanks to the community. If you want to join and be a subscriber to the newsletter, it’s free > https://www.beautytechcommunity.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fabcocreationstudio.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BeautyTechVent1