Latest news with #VibeCheck
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Home decor platform Vaaree raises $4.6 million in round led by PeerCapital
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Home decor platform Varee has raised $4.6 million in a funding round led by Peer Capital , with participation from existing investors, such as Peak XV Partners' startup accelerator programme Surge, and All India Capital. The round also saw participation from investors such as Sattva Ventures and the Asian Paints family company plans to use the fresh capital to expand its AI-powered home décor app, VibeCheck , and expand its fulfilment and brand verification (FABV) network to speed up delivery. It also plans to expand its presence across metro and tier-2 by Garima Luthra , Pranav Arora, and Varun Vohra in 2022, Vaaree operates as a curated marketplace for home and soft furnishings, sourcing directly from export-oriented factories.'We're building for the Indian home with speed, soul, and smarts. This fresh capital will be used in technology, operations, and brand expansion. We are also launching AI-powered styling with VibeCheck, enabling next-day deliveries through our FBV network, and deepening our brand presence across the country in metro and tier-2 cities,' Luthra told online marketplace curates close to 80,000 products across 150 home décor platform previously raised $4 million in seed funding from Surge in November 2023.'We've backed Vaaree from the very first cheque because they're not just building a home brand, they're building the rails for how India will shop for home in the future. As the $15 billion home furnishings and décor category comes online, Vaaree is setting the standard, and we're excited to double down on that vision,' said Ankur Pahwa, partner at PeerCapital We created Vaaree so every style from Bohemian to art deco can be shopped in one trusted place, said the company in a prepared statement.
Time of India
12-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Vaaree raises $4.6 million to scale home décor platform
BENGALURU: Bengaluru-based home décor startup Vaaree has raised $4.6 million in a pre-Series A round led by PeerCapital, with participation from other existing investors Surge (Peak XV's accelerator programme) and All In Capital. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now New investors Sattva Ventures and the Asian Paints family office also participated in the round, as per a statement from the company. Founded in 2022, Vaaree operates a curated marketplace for home and soft furnishings, sourcing directly from export-grade factories and targeting Indian consumers with mid- to premium-priced décor. It had previously raised $4 million in seed funding led by Surge, with PeerCapital, All In Capital and Better Capital participating too, in November 2023. The company plans to use the fresh capital to scale its AI-powered styling tool VibeCheck, expand its Fulfilment & Brand Verification (FBV) network to enable next-day delivery and deepen brand presence across metros and tier-2 cities. Vaaree currently offers more than 80,000 SKUs across home décor, bed and bath, kitchenware, and lighting categories. The company says its factory-to-home model has helped it maintain a return rate below 5%. 'Launching AI-powered styling with VibeCheck, enabling next-day deliveries through our FBV network, and taking our brand deeper into India, this capital helps us go faster,' said Garima Luthra, co-founder at Vaaree. PeerCapital Managing Partner Ankur Pahwa said the startup is 'building the rails for how India will shop for home in the future,' adding that the $15 billion soft furnishings and décor category is coming online rapidly. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now India's broader home and household market is projected to reach $237 billion by 2030, the statement added. Luthra, an alumnus of Panjab University, has previously worked across startups such as Blinkit, Furlenco, Acko and Cred. Her co-founder Pranav Arora, also an alumnus of Punjab University, co-owned and ran Aaywon Lamitubes and Packaging Solutions for over a decade. The third co-founder Varun Vohra, an alumnus of BITS Pilani, is a serial founder who has co-founded, scaled and sold two businesses – Aknamed, which was acquired by API Holdings in 2021 and Genii, acquired by Practo in 2015. Past investors in Vaaree include Cred founder Kunal Shah, Dr. Vaidya's founder Arjun Vaidya, Sugar Cosmetics founder Vineeta Singh, Mamaearth co-founder Ghazal Alagh, Acko co-founder Varun Dua and Avaana Capital co-founder Anjali Bansal.
Forbes
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
ESPN Debuts Women-Led Sports Show ‘Vibe Check' On Disney+
When sports broadcasters Elle Duncan, Andraya Carter and Chiney Ogwumike took the stage May 14 for Disney's Upfronts presentation announcing new programming, it marked a new era for ESPN—one led by women. The trio of ESPN veterans announced they will anchor Vibe Check, a new studio show launching on Disney+ in late June. In a media landscape still dominated by male viewpoints, Vibe Check will bring women's voice to the forefront, showcasing sports analysis and conversations on their terms. 'Sports is the great equalizer,' Mike Foss, ESPN's senior vice president of Sports Studio & Entertainment, said. 'Women play sports. Men play sports. Women are fans of sports. They talk about sports.' Vibe Check's arrival comes at an explosive time for women's sports. ESPN viewers spent 54% more time watching women's sports in 2023, including WNBA, college basketball, gymnastics and volleyball, Duncan said at the Upfronts launch. Vibe Check will offer three episodes a week, ranging from about 30-45 minutes, providing analysis, behind-the-scenes access and informed opinions across all sports. It joins SC+ on the Disney+ platform, which launched March 3 as a daily digital version of SportsCenter. 'There's been a ton of energy around ESPN programming within Disney+,' Foss said. 'In those collaborations with Disney, they wanted more original programming, and specifically sports programming within studio. The idea emanated both from the great traction that SC+ has received, along with our ability to deliver high-quality sports studio programming.' While Duncan, Carter and Ogwumike are the show's primary hosts, Foss Vibe Check will feature many of ESPN other respected female voices, including Hannah Storm, Laura Rutledge and Holly Rowe. Topics for the show will reflect the hosts' connection with and commitment to women's sports, but Foss said Vibe Check will be more broadly focused and curated around its panelists' interests in all sports. 'If there's an opportunity, and seasonally speaking it's relevant to discuss women's volleyball, we're absolutely going to fit that in,' Foss said. 'Right now, the WNBA season just began, so if we were to do a show today, that's going to be basketball heavy. 'It's looking at the sports calendar and being able to measure the events that are resonating with fans.' The decision to anchor the show with women might generate some skepticism, but Foss said the show is rooted in the talent and interests among ESPN's anchors and analysts. 'The thesis behind the show is not rooted in a gimmick,' he said. 'We have people who are passionate about sports, and my belief is that you put those people in positions to showcase their passion and their authenticity.' While the launch of a new talk-format show may be questioned at a time that legacy panels like 'Around the Horn' are being sunsetted, Foss said the interest in sports has never been higher. 'Fandom is at an all time high,' he said. 'The vessels that we create to reflect that need to be a reflection of the time that we're in right now.' ESPN's goal now is to match the level of fandom with offerings that meet consumers where they are and where they are going. That includes a future focused on direct-to-consumer offerings and a commitment to digital on-demand engagement. 'It's being in tune to your audience and understanding what your audience wants,' he said. 'For me, it's creating [shows] with the right inputs and lessons that we've learned along the way but then being very open to what it could become.'
Cosmopolitan
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
'The sunglasses felt like a disguise': TikTok dancers Brooke and Jess on evolving past viral online fame
Brooke and Jess have just been offered an exciting new project. We're wrapping up filming their Vibe Check interview in the Cosmopolitan UK studio when their manager asks for their availability. Amid taking photos against our pink colourama they discuss the details of the top secret booking, and Jess asks, 'but can we do it without the sunglasses?' It's a surprising question from the 24-year-old TikToker, given she and Brooke, 25, have amassed a following of nearly 5 million followers on the app, where they've become known for their signature 'sunglasses and hoodie' look while dancing to trending music or sounds. Since going viral in 2022, they've taught everyone from Meghan Trainor (more on her later), to Bella Hadid, to Katy Perry to complete their minute long routines. They've also performed at Wembley Stadium and Madison Square Garden, complete with sunglasses and hoodies. 'We love dancing with the sunglasses, but we also want to do other things as well,' she later explains over mugs of English breakfast tea. As well as ditching the glasses, they're also switching things up, such as their joint Instagram handle name. For years it was Brookie and Jessie to match their TikTok, but back in April after some magic from one of their team they've been able to get the name they always wanted - Brooke and Jess. It's a small distinction but an important one. 'We only ever had Brookie and Jessie, because Brooke and Jess was taken as a username,' Jess explains. ''Brookie and Jessie' - it just feels young. We never call each other Brookie or Jessie. It's just not our name. If someone said Jessie, I wouldn't think they were talking to me.' The first time they did call each other by their real names was back in dance college where they met. They were raised at opposite ends of the country, Brooke in Essex, with her two younger brothers and Jess up north with her younger sister. It was their love of dance, and childhoods dedicated to years of training that brought them together to the same dancing college in London. 'Jess followed me before college started. She was kind of a dance influencer at the time, she had like 1,000 followers, and so I followed her back,' Brooke explains when I ask about their first impressions of each other. 'And then she unfollowed me the week after.' 'I didn't mean to!' Jess exclaims. 'I remember clicking on Brooke's Facebook profile picture [while stalking ahead of the course starting] and I said to my mom, 'Oh my god, this girl looks so much older than me. Like, what the hell? How am I in her year?'' Despite the awkward start they were often paired together for work and bonded over being the youngest in their year and from then on, formed a solid friendship. After their graduation in 2020, they moved in together following the first COVID lockdown and started working at dance schools and auditioning for West End shows. It wasn't until April 2022 that things changed. They made a TikTok to the remix of Louis Theroux's 'Jiggle Jiggle' clip from Amelia Dimoldenberg's Chicken Shop Date. 'We didn't make TikToks together. Brooke didn't even have TikTok. And then it [the song] just kept coming up on my For You Page, and I was like, 'This is so catchy.' I don't know what possessed us to do it,' Jess reflects. 'We put the sunglasses on because we had no makeup on and we were already in trackies,' Brooke adds. 'We posted it on your [Jess'] account. The next day, we both had work. And I remember looking at it and it had 1 million [views].' As is often the case with viral TikTok moments, things changed overnight. Jimmy Fallon's show featured the video and Shakira was seen learning the dance. They then decided to make a joint account and committed to posting a new video everyday at 8:30pm, something they've largely stuck to three years on. 'We had to build up, people started knowing us as the 'sunglasses and hoodie girls', and we just kept going,' Brooke explains. By October that same year they decided to quit their jobs and commit to making it in social media full time. They got their first manager and booked a Fortnite campaign, and started working with celebrities. The first of whom was former Cosmopolitan UK cover star Amelia Dimoldenberg, who suggested the girls start vlogging their daily lives as well as continuing their dance videos. This advice helped to show off the girls' authentic, down-to-earth, warm personalities, and grew their community of loyal fans. Then came Meghan Trainor, who they have the longest running relationship with. They recorded a dance to 'Made You Look' out of sheer fan girl love. Meghan spotted it and reached out to the girls, asking if they'd be in LA soon. They had no plans to be stateside and yet they booked their flights that very same day, telling Trainor they happened to be there the following week. They danced with her in one video, and then worked with her on a new campaign and eventually joined her on tour in Australia. 'That was the coolest thing in the world,' Jess gushes. 'Her whole family and her whole team are genuinely the nicest people ever. She's just so supportive.' Meghan isn't their only celebrity devotee. Paris Hilton created a group chat with them, David Spade came up to them in LA to tell them what a fan he is and they're in regular communication with JoJo Siwa. They've also worked with brands such as E.L.F Cosmetics, Jack Wills and Charlotte Tilbury over the years. With big brands and celebrity names following their every move, the pair have got their routine down to a well-oiled machine. 'We are very much equally in charge of different things,' Jess explains. 'We have our roles. I'm YouTube long form, you're [Brooke] YouTube shorts. Brooke will have the vlog on her. I will send all the footage for YouTube over every week.' 'We never decide on what these roles are. They just kind of happen,' Brooke adds. The pair have a strict filming schedule too and will plan to do hours-long content days of TikTok making. Ahead of filming they'll send inspiration videos from their personal accounts to the main 'Brookie and Jessie' TikTok account. On the content day itself, they'll film multiple videos, swapping hoodies as they go in order to keep the videos different. They both choreograph, but Brooke adds that it's Jess who does take more of the lead. 'I'll close my eyes and if I hear a song, I'll know exactly what I need it to look like, and then we'll both just figure out how to get it there,' Jess says. 'We never do a dance to a song unless we absolutely love it, because we get blocked [creatively], don't we?' Brooke asks Jess, who nods in confirmation. They're also keeping tabs on new music drops so they can release a new dance that same day to a trending song. So is it possible to be friends, colleagues and roommates [they still live together]? Surely they've had one argument? I ask. 'We've never fallen out,' Jess says. 'Even yesterday we were having a content day, and you [Brooke] were getting stressy, and I was getting annoyed that you were getting stressy, and I was like, 'Switch off. We're in work mode. Let's just get it done.'' The pair have developed a coping strategy in which they see 'Brooke and Jess the TikTok dancers' as 'The Girls' and often refer to themselves in the third person, as a way to maintain a split focus when it comes to their work and personal lives. 'We're friends, but also we're passionate about this, and we want it to be good, and so we're in work mode, and then we can switch off quite easily,' Jess reveals. They also want to prioritise being candid and authentic with their audience, 'People like it when you're raw' Brooke adds. One thing they never share much about, however, is their romantic lives. Is that a conscious choice, I ask them? They clarify they're both single, so there isn't much of a dating life to share, but when they do get into relationships they intend to keep them private. 'Maybe, like, a hard launch in 10 years time,' Jess laughs. 'I think it's so brave of people. I see some people online talking like, 'Oh my god, this guy I went on a date with and he did this'. And I'm like, 'Oh my god. What if he sees it?' I just feel too bad.' But in fairness their careers are too busy to allow them much time to date. While DanceTok is not what it used to be in 2020, the girls are still riding the wave, with artists frequently sending them demos to see if the music is viral enough to dance to. Their DanceTok peers, such as Addison Rae and Charli D'Amelio, have since transitioned into other areas, with Rae releasing her debut album next month and D'Amelio and her family starring in their own reality show, do Brooke and Jess see themselves going down a similar path? Well they're already starting. Last year Jess appeared in the musical production of Burlesque and they're both set to talk on stage at SXSW in London next month, and they have a number of other projects they tease like the exciting phone call earlier, but can't talk about. They've also made a big change to their content - they now dance without the sunglasses on. 'We've started taking the glasses off more and more [in TikToks], because the glasses almost felt like a disguise,' Brooke says powerfully. 'We would love to do a path like them [Rae and D'Amelio]. But I know that we'll always be dancing alongside it.' Sunglasses or not, we see bright things ahead for this dancing duo. Photography by Steven Simione
Vogue
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue
On the Podcast: What You Might Have Missed From the 2025 Met Gala
On this first Tuesday in May, The Run Through is reporting live from the so-called 'war room,' where Vogue staffers spent Monday's Met Gala publishing all your favorite stories! From analyzing Diana Ross's 18-foot embroidered train to registering the baby grand piano strapped to André 3000's back, the latest episode of the podcast captures what it's really like to be a Vogue editor during one of the most impactful fashion events of the year. Then, Chioma and Janicza Bravo, fresh from a performance by Usher and Stevie Wonder after dinner, join Chloe to discuss the night's biggest moments. Hint: Rihanna announcing her third pregnancy was a highlight! PLUS: Zach Stafford, from one of our favorite podcasts, Vibe Check, interviews Chioma in-studio about the importance of this year's theme. See All of the Celebrity Looks From the Met Gala 2025 Red Carpet:
