How 2 former Glossier execs are helping consumer companies grow with better data

As Glossier's CTO and President, Bryan Mahoney and Henry Davis saw firsthand the massive resources required to turn a beloved brand into a technology company. Their startup Chord gives brands like Sonos, Caraway, and Ruggable the AI-powered data advantage without the headcount — driving a 20% increase in marketing ROI for Sonos.

Chord is on a mission to help D2C brands use data and AI to grow their companies without needing huge technical teams. And they’re bringing lessons learned from their previous experience at Glossier to help power the fast-growing consumer brands of today. Chord, founded in 2021 by former Glossier executives Bryan Mahoney (pictured) and Henry Davis, is a commerce-as-a-service software that unlocks an AI-powered data platform for brands. Its headless commerce technology gives companies access to meaningful first-party data, providing a cost effective way to unlock their data and drive revenue growth. The startup, backed by TechNexus Venture Collaborative, Index Ventures, Foundation Capital, Eclipse Ventures and other investors, has landed several well-known consumer brands as customers, including Sonos, Caraway, Ruggable and Sakara. With Sonos, for example, Chord helped transform the audio company’s marketing strategy by consolidating data, streamlining processes, and ultimately driving a 20% increase in marketing channel ROI . Chord helps companies collect, organize, enrich, and activate all their customer data, CEO Bryan Mahoney said. “We have these iconic brands that are known for selling an amazing product in an amazing customer experience, and they want to use their data to strengthen the relationships they have with their customers,” Mahoney said. Mahoney helped Glossier build out its in-house tech team as the company’s CTO. He saw the enormous resources required to turn Glossier into a full-fledged technology company. He and Henry Davis, then Glossier’s president and COO, embarked on a journey to give brands the same tech advantage in a more sustainable way. “Chord is the place to go for trustworthy, actionable data,” Mahoney said. “We’re creating that single source for you to be able to do more with first-party data, do more for your customers, grow profitably, grow efficiently, and really get out from underneath the avalanche of point solutions that might be

By Jim Dallke at TechNexus Venture Collaborative