In recent years, we’ve witnessed continued shrinkage in investment to consumer-facing product startups, particularly those selling gadgets and giftable goods.
While there’s no single explanation for the decline, it doesn’t help that this has been a tough area for returns. It’s a widespread trend, as we’ve chronicled, affecting areas including fashion, consumer electronics and the once-burgeoning direct-to-consumer space.
All this is to say that, if one were perusing recently funded startups to find gift ideas, the options aren’t as broad as they used to be. No more $700 juicers or smart party coolers this holiday season.
That said, there are still intriguing options in the mix, particularly around wellness, customization and apparel. To illustrate, we used Crunchbase data to assemble a list of 24 companies funded this year with products on the market, ranging from libido-lifting kits to 3-D printers. We also dig into some of the more transparent trends.
Wellness is one of the top trends
Wellness was the standout focus area this year for consumer gadgets and products startups.
This includes the most heavily funded and best-known name on the list — Oura, maker of smart rings that track over 20 biometrics to deliver wearers personalized and timely health metrics. The starting price is around $500.
We could all use a better night’s sleep, and startups are tackling this area as well. The top fundraiser here is Eight Sleep, which picked up a $100 million Series D in August. It sells connected bed gear that can adjust to provide optimal temperature and support.
Getting older also brings its share of wellness needs, and startups are on this too. This includes San Francisco-based OneSkin, which sells anti-aging skincare products and raised a $20 million round this summer. And for menopausal or post-menopausal women, there’s a Black Friday sale at Womaness, which sells “menopause survival,” libido-lifting and healthy aging kits, along with skincare and sexual wellness products.
Customization
Personalized gifts are also a popular offering, with several recently funded startups focused on customized products.
For artistic types, Arcade offers an AI-enabled platform for designing jewelry and home decor goods. The startup then works with a team of “verified makers” to turn the design into a finished product.
On the manicure front, Blank Beauty is mixing up custom nail polish based on customer-submitted photos. The Tennessee startup snagged a $6 million Series A in May.
For those seeking a pricey item to pre-order, meanwhile, crowdsource-backed EufyMake wants to let you make your own custom creations with its personal, 3-D texture UV printer. One can currently pre-order a printer for $2,300.
Fashion’s still in style (somewhat)
We’re also still seeing some fashion startups raising good-sized rounds, although it’s admittedly not the most action-packed sector.
The biggest startup fundraiser in this niche for 2025 was Kim Kardashian’s Skims. The shapewear and clothing brand closed on $225 million in a Series D this month.
Vivrelle, a subscription offering for luxury accessories, was another investor favorite, picking up a $62 million round this summer. It’s also running a Black Friday sale for those targeting fans of designer handbags.
Fun vs. fundable
Overall, there’s a lot of stuff to buy, even if VCs haven’t been heavy patrons of the consumer space.
This is pretty typical. As startup categories go, consumer products has always been one of the more fun ones to research. Offerings tend to be clever, quirky and nice-to-have, if not essential.
But while the category may be a startup reporter favorite, it’s not always venture investors’ top pick. This was apparent for 2025, as VCs poured record sums into AI deals and mostly ignored market-ready consumer products and gadget startups.
Still, I wouldn’t count this sector out. For one, while we didn’t see many market-ready consumer products unicorns, investors did put considerable cash into a number of robotics startups working on consumer products.
Bots for housework look particularly compelling. Two-year-old The Bot Co. has raised $300 million to date to develop a robot for doing housework. And Sunday, a Benchmark-backed startup building a household robot capable of doing everyday chores, introduced its first bot, Memo, last week. Several others in the heavily funded space are working on both consumer and more specialized workplace bot offerings.
Perhaps these will be the hot holiday item in a couple years. If they work as well as early buzz hints, they might even be able to wrap themselves.
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Illustration: Dom Guzman
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