Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Stephanie Pope could be the next CEO of Boeing, the Texas woman who asked the state to authorize her abortion is seeking the procedure out-of-state, and a founder is building a new online discount store. Have a terrific Tuesday!
– Coupon clipping. In 2019, Louise Fritjofsson cofounded a company that launched small food brands. A four-time founder passionate about sustainability, she wanted to cut down on wasteful packaging. But she found that she ended up with overstock products. “Why does it matter if you have recyclable packaging if no one’s using it?” she thought.
And, she realized, overstock was expensive for brands. So she pivoted in early 2021 and launched Martie, an online discount store that started with shelf-stable grocery products. Martie has raised $7 million in a round led by Upfront Ventures with participation from Day One Ventures, Fortune is the first to report.
The online store stocks a rotating selection of about 500 products at a time from brands ranging from Fly by Jing to Annie’s mac and cheese, with a goal of selling discount products in a more appealing way compared to traditional discount retailers with branding of its own, rather than dollar-store neglect. (It doesn’t sell fresh or frozen foods.) While she started in grocery, Fritjofsson eventually sees the shelf-stable category making up just 20% of inventory as Martie expands to personal care and home. For now, she sees an opportunity to compete in online grocery, dominated by chains and Instacart, by competing on affordability instead of what she calls a “race to the bottom” on convenience. Martie purchases take about three to five days to arrive, and the average order saves customers about $54 compared to conventional stores.
Fritjofsson is inspired by Ikea—she’s originally from Sweden—to build a company for what she calls “the many people.” Unlike online grocers targeting affluent, young customers in major cities, she wants to reach customers in other parts of the U.S. Martie shoppers are so far mostly in suburban areas and are 45 years old on average.
But Fritjofsson does take a cue from Instacart in another way: ads. One of her startups before Martie was AdProfit, a Stockholm-based tool for marketers. She’s observed the way Instacart, under CEO Fidji Simo, has layered an ads business on top of its flagship grocery delivery model and sees potential for her early-days startup. “I can’t wait,” she says of the potential for her company to diversify its revenue. “There’s data, then there’s ads, there’s B2B sales. There’s so many other pathways.”
Fritjofsson has four startups and two exits behind her (AdProfit sold to the Swedish holding company VO2 Cap). She sees lots of potential acquirers out there for a growing discount business—but, she says, “I’ve never IPOed a company.” “That’s definitely a chip on my shoulder,” she says.
For now, Martie is early in its path to the public markets. Currently, sales are growing 30% month-over-month, the startup says. (It declined to share revenue figures.) The startup has relied on word of mouth and local media rather than marketing. “The growth she’s achieved with minimal marketing spend should be a case study for all founders,” says investor Masha Bucher of Day One.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Joseph Abrams. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Lift-off. Boeing has promoted company veteran Stephanie Pope to chief operating officer, positioning her to become the aircraft manufacturer's next CEO. Pope, who most recently served as chief of Boeing’s services division, enters the newly-created position as current CEO David Calhoun nears retirement. CNBC
- No time to waste. Kate Cox, the Texas woman whose bid to have a legal abortion was granted and then revoked a day later, left the state over the weekend to seek the procedure elsewhere. Last week, a lower court granted Cox, 31, the right to an abortion due to risks to her fetus and her future fertility, but the Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocked that decision a day later. The higher court could still rule in Cox's favor, but the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents Cox, said there wasn't time to wait. Washington Post
- Tech for all. As Google's first-ever director of product inclusion and equity, Annie Jean-Baptiste has helped launch stair-free walking routes and a camera app for visually-impaired users. In a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, the second-generation immigrant talks about the personal and financial incentives behind such initiatives. Wall Street Journal
- Back from the dead. Feminist media platform Jezebel officially came back online on Monday after it was shut down by one owner and revived by another, all within the span of a month. Former interim editor-in-chief Lauren Tousignant will return to the editor in chief role as the platform pivots to generating revenue through live events, videos, and other advertiser-friendly formats under new publisher Paste Magazine. Adweek
- Exponential failure. For fitness-loving women looking for a second career and a chance at entrepreneurship, owning one of Xponential Fitness’ franchises—which includes CycleBar, PureBarre, Rumble Boxing, and others—seemed like the perfect opportunity. However, women who went through with the venture claim they were swindled out of their studios and savings by bad business models and intimidation tactics. Bloomberg
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Digitalundivided appointed Leah Williams as chief executive officer. JetBlue named Dawn Southerton as vice president, controller and principal accounting officer.
ON MY RADAR
Medication and egg sharing: how Black women trying to get pregnant create their own health care networks The Guardian
How Hamas used sexual violence on October 7th The New Yorker
Inside the three days that reframed Black women’s health The New York Times
PARTING WORDS
"What is a way to write your own history instead of waiting for an outsider to do it for you?"
—Mindy Seu, founder of the Cyberfeminism Index, on the importance of preserving internet history and creating a lasting archive of resources that are temporary on the cloud
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