FIGS Is The First Female-Only Founded And Run Company To Hit The Stock Exchange

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Did you delete the stocks app off your phone because you don’t understand stocks?

If you did, and you don’t religiously read the Wall Street Journal, you probably missed an amazing milestone that happened in May.

Heather Hasson and Trina Spear, the two female co-founders of FIGS, rang the opening bell as their company started trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

While it may have flown under the radar of the public, it doesn’t lessen the impact of their achievement — which is being the first female-only founded and run company to go public.  

The breakthrough was remarkable not just for the direct-to-consumer medical apparel (scrubs and such) company — Hasson and Spear’s stock market appearance is in all probability the first IPO run by two female co-founders.

“It’s incredibly rare,” says Pam Kostka, the CEO of All Raise, the organization working to diversify Silicon Valley. “There might have been other companies that started with two female co-founders, but those that have made it through the growth gauntlet and scale gauntlet to exit together — they’re the only ones to my knowledge.”

Origins Of FIGS

Hasson, 39, and Spear, 37, started FIGS in 2013 with the goal of rattling the billion dollar U.S. medical apparel market. They noticed that healthcare workers were having to buy their own uniforms, while in the past that financial responsibility typically fell to the establishment. 

With that change, around 85% of healthcare workers are in charge of buying their own scrubs. 

And those scrubs were sold at stores, in a “strip mall far from the hospital.”

The Direct-To-Consumer Approach

Hassan and Spears’ plan of action was to take the direct-to-consumer e-commerce brands route and use that approach for healthcare uniforms. 

FIGS says it has “de-commoditized a previously commoditized product,” with 2020 revenue of $263 million — which is just 2% of the market total. 

With this online option now available, healthcare workers have embraced shopping for FIGS scrubs and other medical apparel from the comfort of their devices, with half of the customers returning to buy from FIGS again.

Awareness And Giving Back

The stock market isn’t the only place FIGS is making its mark. 

The FIGS team, along with five “Awesome Humans,” went to Peru in August 2018 to team up with non-profit Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC) where they donated scrubs and medical care to over 300 patients. 

“When we started FIGS, we created our Threads for Threads initiative to donate scrubs to healthcare professionals who work in resource-poor countries and lack the proper uniforms to do their jobs safely. By providing clean scrubs to these individuals, we aim to empower them and improve the quality of care they provide. We also partner with amazing organizations and Awesome Humans who help us deliver the scrubs — as well as donate their time, expertise, and care.

“As we have continued to grow as a company, so has the breadth of our mission. In order to truly serve medical professionals on a global scale, we see a fundamental opportunity to do more. In addition to continuing to donate scrubs, we now make a bigger, longer-lasting impact for the community we serve — and the communities they serve — around the world.”

Have you heard of FIGS scrubs before? What are your thoughts? Comment below!

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