Alexandra Wilkis Wilson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alexandra Wilkis New York City |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (AB, MBA) |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur and Investor |
| Relatives | Alan Wilkis, Brother |
Alexandra Wilkis Wilson is an American entrepreneur and investor who co-founded the companies the Gilt Groupe, GlamSquad, and Fitz. [1] She is currently co-founder and Managing Partner at Clerisy, a consumer-focused growth equity fund. [2]
Wilkis Wilson was born and raised in New York City. [3] She attended The Brearley School, Phillips Exeter Academy, [3] Harvard College, where she graduated magna cum laude, [4] and Harvard Business School. [5]
Wilkis Wilson grew up in a bilingual home (Spanish/English) and later learned French, Portuguese and Italian. She studied piano at the Manhattan School of Music and played competitively until about the 10th grade. She credits music as being a strong early influence in her life and in her dedication to entrepreneurial ventures. [6] Her brother Alan Wilkis is the founder of the American Music Project, Big Data. [7]
Wilkis Wilson began her career working in investment banking at Merrill Lynch for three years, [3] before returning to Harvard to earn an MBA. [8] She then entered the Louis Vuitton management training program, [8] which included working the sales floor. [9] Subsequently, she worked for two years managing retail operations for Bulgari. [10]
Wilkis Wilson co-founded the Gilt Groupe in 2007, [11] a flashsale company that offers luxury goods for sale at significant discounts, but only for brief windows of time. In 2012, Wilkis Wilson and cofounder Alexis Maybank, a classmate from Harvard Business School, published a book on Gilt's founding, By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop. [12] At one point the company was valued at a billion dollars, making it a "unicorn" (a venture capital slang term for a startup valued at a billion dollars), but sold to Saks Fifth Avenue parent company Hudson's Bay Company for $250 million in 2016. [13] Wilkis Wilson left the company in 2014.
In September 2014, she became co-founder and CEO of GlamSquad, a mobile styling company [14] "which offers on-demand beauty services through an integrated app." [15] Clients can use an app to book hair and makeup artists for house calls--"the Uber of beauty services." [16] The company had $8 million in sales in the first year, and raised $24 million in funding, as of February 2017. [17] It operates in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington, DC. [18]
In March 2017, Wilkis Wilson launched a startup called Fitz, a service that offers an in-person wardrobe consultation and then follow-up advice on shopping. [19] Fitz was sold to Tradesy, the online peer-to-peer resale marketplace for women's luxury and designer contemporary fashion, in February 2018. [20] In February 2018, Wilkis Wilson was recruited by Boston Consulting Group to join Allergan as the SVP, Consumer Strategy & Innovation. She led new efforts in revolutionizing digital marketing and DTC initiatives for Allergan's leading aesthetics portfolio including Botox, Juvederm and Coolsculpting. [21] She left Allergan in July 2020 after the company was acquired by AbbVie Inc. for $63B. [22]
Today Wilkis Wilson is co-founder and Managing Partner at Clerisy, the growth equity fund which she co-founded with Lisa Myers, formerly a partner at L. Catterton and a 20-year veteran of Templeton. [2] Clerisy's growing portfolio includes investments in Dormify, UNION and CleanCo. [23]
Wilkis Wilson has been a prolific advisor and angel investor to over 80 tech startups including but not limited to Birchbox, [24] Carbon38, [25] Flow Commerce, [26] Rent the Runway, [24] and Tula. [27] She has been an advisor to consumer tech Venture Capital funds including Forerunner Ventures and Montage Ventures. [28]
Wilkis Wilson is married [4] and has two children. [29] She presently resides in Miami, FL. [23]