In the News
COVER STORY
Beauty Independent; Top Knot Ventures’ Manica Blain On Why Individual Investors Are Particularly Important For Early-Stage Brands Today, August 2023
BC Business;B.C.'s Most Influential Women in Finance: Investing;March 2019
EDITORIAL
Globe and Mail;Confessions of a Pregnant Venture Capitalist; May 2021
PRESS
Beauty Independent; Beauty’s 2026 M&A Forecast: Measured Acceleration, Bifurcation And Selectivity;January 2026
Beauty Independent; Beauty’s K-Shaped 2025 M&A: A Few Blockbusters, Plenty Of Caution;December 2025
Beauty Independent; From C-Suite To VC: Can Beauty’s Star Executives Succeed As Investors?November 2025
Beauty Independent; What Buyer Could Reignite Fenty Beauty’s Star Power? October 2025
Beauty Independent; Sweet Chemistry Raises $1M For Next-Gen Science-Backed Peptide Skincare; October 2025
Modern Retail; Over 80,000 attend launch pop-up of teen skin-care brand Sincerely Yours;September 2025
Beauty Independent;Ami Colé’s Closure And The High Price Of Trying To Compete At Sephora;July 2025
Business of Fashion;The ‘Silicon Valleys’ of Beauty Brace for Tariffs;June 2025
The Information; A $1 Billion Dollar Boost to Beauty M&A;May 2025
Beauty Independent; Is Rhode Worth $1 Billion?May 2025
Business of Fashion;‘Buy Canadian’ Becomes a Beauty Rallying Cry as Trump’s Tariffs Loom;March 2025
Beauty Independent;What Private Equity’s Big Deal Energy Means For Emerging Beauty Brands And Consumers;March 2025
Business of Fashion;Silas Capital Invests in J-Beauty Brand DAMDAM;January 2025
Modern Retail; VCs are Cautiously Optimistic About an Improved 2025 Funding Landscape;December 2024
Beauty Independent; Has The Small Beauty Brand Explosion Imploded?November 2024
BetaKit; Moselle Secures $2.1 million CAD to help brands manage their inventory with AI;October 2024
Beauty Independent; Beauty Independent Unveils 2024 Beacon Awards Winners;September 2024
Beauty Independent; Will Beauty’s Recent String Of Strong Sales Doom The Lipstick Index?August 2024
Beauty Independent; Beauty Independent Unveils 2024 Beacon Awards Nominees;August 2024
Modern Retail; DTC Briefing: How Repeat Founders are Building Their New StartupsAugust 2024
Beauty Independent;Should Emerging Beauty Brands Be Filling C-Suite Roles Earlier Than Ever?July 2024
Modern Retail; Zombie brands, fire sales & quiet closures are plaguing the DTC world;July 2024
Beauty Independent;Beauty Brands’ Life Expectancy And The Implications For M&A; June 2024
BetaKit;Eirene Raises $4.1 Million Seed Round to Simplify End-of-Life Solutions;April 2024
Beauty Independent;How Beauty Investors Tell if the Science in Science-Backed Brands is Real;March 2024
Beauty Independent; These Investors Are Sticking With The Consumer Sector As Others Leave It;February 2024
Beauty Matter;Ayurvedic Beauty Pioneer Sahajan Secures First Funding Round; November 2023
Beauty Independent;Ayurvedic Skincare Brand Sahajan Secures Funding By Showing Solid Fundamentals; November 2023
Beauty Independent;Private-Label Platform Blanka Raises $2M To Ease Brands’ Ability To Bring Products To Market;August 2023
The Business of Fashion;How the DTC Bust Could Playout;March 2023
The Logic;VC Outlook 2022: What Nine Top Canadian Venture Capital Investors Expect from the Year Ahead; January 2022
Glossy; Iris&Romeo Secures $2 Million in Seed Round to Reach Women in their Power Years’;June 2021
Globe and Mail;Campfire Capital Raises More than $30 Million (U.S.), Secures New Investors;October 2016
Globe and Mail;Ex-Lululemon Executives Unite in a VC Firm Focused on Retail;February 2016
CBC;Uber Canada Hosts Rolling Pitch Meetings with Investors;April 2016
PODCASTS
The Consumer VC; Is Early-Stage Consumer VC Broken? with Manica Blain; March 2026
The Great Pursuit;The Business of Beauty with Manica Blain’ May 2025
Beyond Beauty; Building Brands and Navigating Capital: Insights with Manica Blain @ Top Knot Ventures; October 2024
The Consumer VC; Why Early Traction Might Be a Red Flag, Hang Ups in Due Diligence and Unlocking the Potential of Beauty and Personal Care Brands With Manica Blain;June 2024
Pop Up Report;Manica Blain on Successful Fundraising;January 2024
The Hard Part;Manica Blain from Top Knot Ventures;June 2023
TechTalks; Ep.6 Gender Gap in Finance and Technology-Venture Capital (w/Manica Blain);March 2021
She Built That;SBT027: Relationships are the Currency of Life According to Co-Partner of Campfire Capital, Manica Gautam;June 2016
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Beauty Independent Dealmaker Summit;Panelist, Early-Stage Investing: Art or Paint by Numbers?June 2024
Be The Light Society;Keynote Speaker - Diwali 2023 Gala; November 2023
The Logic; Virtual Event: The State of Venture Capital in Canada;May 2021
Vancouver Start-Up Week;Vancouver Startup Week: Know When to Pivot: Evolutions in a Shifting Market from a Retailer and Investment Perspective;September 2016
WNorth Speaker;Tales from the Fundraising Trail;April 2017
SUBSTACK
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