Last week, Cratejoy commenced our first-ever Subscription Box Accelerator Program for subscription box entrepreneurs. This intensive six-week program is the culmination of the last six years of work at Cratejoy studying and learning from our merchants and subscription customers! Through education and mentorship by successful subscription box entrepreneurs and the Cratejoy team, our participants will develop a strong prelaunch campaign over the course of the program and launch their new subscription boxes within three weeks following the end of the program.
If interested, you can read more about the Accelerator Program here.
We were thrilled to receive hundreds of amazing merchant applications for the Accelerator Program. As you can imagine, however, this made selecting our participants extremely difficult. The Cratejoy Accelerator Team spent several weeks poring over these applications and, finally, nearly 60 merchants were selected to participate in the program. Some of these sellers are in the initial prelaunch stage, while others are in the process of relaunching their subscription box and others seek to scale their existing business. We’re incredibly grateful and excited for all the merchants who applied, and we can’t wait to see our participants succeed.
Take a look at our Accelerator participants below!
Allison Schaper, Zigii
Zigii is a travel subscription with a twist: subscribers choose a plan that aligns with their travel schedule (multi-month or weekly), and each box is delivered to the subscriber’s hotel upon check-in. Each box contains 8-10 food and health products – like supplements and superfoods – to help you stay healthy while you travel.
Kathryn King, Mystic Authority
This spiritual wellness box offers everything you could need for your own wellness practice, from gorgeous crystals and minerals to exclusive jewelry, geologic fossils, handcrafted oracle cards, and stories from a variety of ancient traditions.
Lindsay Seligman and Jeffrey Waskowiak, BooBoo Box
BooBoo Box specializes in fun, patterned band-aids, offering 100 bandages per box, as well as antibacterial spray and other helpful first aid accessories. Turn your child’s frown into a smile and take care of their health with this cute subscription!
Cheri Tracy, Orglamix
This beauty subscription box – an extension of Orglamix’s stellar makeup line – provides 4-6 handcrafted, eco-friendly, vegan-certified & cruelty-free cosmetics each month. Each box is centered around a theme, and Orglamix also offers different plans for your beauty needs. Alternatively, you can order a subscription of only their exclusive pressed glitter or eyeshadow trios.
Chad Borjeson, Honey Honed
Honey Honed is a unique, bee-based subscription box, offering luxurious raw honey, honey-based snacks, and accessories. For instance, these might include bee-inspired educational goods, fashion swag, and exciting books.
Kristen Faulkner, Reclaim Yourself
Reclaim Yourself’s inspirational subscription includes everything you could need for your self-care routine! Each month, you’ll receive materials to sketch out your goals (like a workbook, planner, or stationery), an inspiring self-help book, aromatherapy, and a unique tea blend customized for Reclaim Yourself subscribers only. Also, special bonus items might include luxury beauty and bath products or relaxing art activities.
Megan Beirne, Baby Eden
Baby Eden specializes in neonatal nutrition, providing healthy, delicious snacks for mother and baby – and tailored to each family’s specific stage of pregnancy. This monthly subscription includes 23 healthy snacks (one for every weekday of the month!) and 4 newsletters from medical professionals explaining what’s going on in that week of your pregnancy. Members also earn exclusive access to the Baby Eden online community.
Justin Coldiron and Ursurla Padilla, My Athlete Box
This monthly subscription offers everything female athletes need to achieve their fitness goals, from athleisure to workout equipment, all natural body products, healthy snacks and recipes, discounts at popular athletic brands, and curated workouts. MAB also includes fitness tips to get you motivated and moving!
Jay Vinson, My BBQ Box
As you might wonder, this cooking subscription focuses on American BBQ – but did you know it’s like a miniature meal kit? Each month, you’ll receive spice rubs from different regional styles of barbecue, as well as recipes for that style and a surprise bonus product.
Shannon Dahlberg, Mr. E’s Super Slime Club
This DIY, STEM-inspired subscription is exactly what adventurous kids want: recipes and the needed tools to make their own slime at home. While they have fun creating and playing with slime, parents can rest easy knowing that their children are learning hands-on and playing with science.
Jonas Halpren, Vehicle Box
This subscription box is for children who love playing with toy trains (and isn’t that all of us, deep down?). Each month, subscribers will receive a high-quality, well-made toy vehicle – such as a car, airplane, train, or boat – and a children’s book about that same vehicle, as well as a bonus fact sheet and other exciting goodies.
Donna Ledbetter, Short Story Book Club
This literary subscription sends you not just one story a month, as with novel-based boxes, but a plethora of stories. You’ll receive a themed anthology, story collection, or novella in each box, in addition to artisanal gourmet snacks and a reading guide with questions to prompt discussion.
Jennifer Jaki Johnson, Jetsetter Chic
Jetsetter Chic is a unique lifestyle box for ladies who love to travel the world – and do it in style. Each box provides luxury beauty, fashion, tech, and health products to help you ease into your journey, plus the latest news and interviews in the travel industry… and, of course, snacks for your next flight.
Lauren Samar, Happy Hook Crocheting
This subscription business offers two plan options for crafters: a monthly box for smaller crochet projects – like shawls, hats, and mittens – and a quarterly box for crocheting afghans. In each box, regardless of project, you’ll receive a pattern, the required set of yarn for the project, the correctly-sized crocheting hook, and a bonus surprise. Each box features a new pattern designer! New subscribers can purchase prior patterns on Happy Hook’s website.
Tiffany Walker, Black History Academy
This educational subscription for children focuses on a specific African country each month and gets kids excited about world exploration. Each month, your child will receive a passport from that country, in addition to a myriad of other fun products and activities (like card games and “boarding passes” to access educational games online) to learn more about Africa and its many cultures.
Fabiola Romain, Wisely Made Men
This soothing subscription box specializes in men’s grooming, with all natural, lightly-scented beard shampoo, beard conditioner and beard oil. Curated “by a woman for her man,” these products help soften, strengthen, and cleanse beards in need of some pampering! Additionally, each box includes a surprise bonus item.
Taylor and Alex Milam-Samuel, Pride Book Club
As you might guess from the name, this subscription box specializes in LGBTQ literature. In each box, you’ll receive not only a recently published LGBTQ book, but also handcrafted products from LGBTQ-owned small businesses. Plus, Pride Book Club offers an exclusive online community for fellow book lovers, artists, and makers.
Michael Green, Frenchie Box
Frenchie Box is the perfect subscription for people who love French bulldogs! Pet parents will appreciate the care taken to curate this monthly box, which provides 4-6 Frenchie-specific treats and toys (plus a special bonus item) for each month’s theme.
Sarah Khan and Melanie McKnight, Unplugged Book Box
This bookish subscription features one brand-new Young Adult (YA) or New Adult book (aimed at twentysomethings and adults who enjoy YA) each month, plus a trove of other goodies to maximize your self-care routine. Subscribers can give their brains a break and recharge happily with Unplugged.
Cornelia Brantner, HelloBible, Inc.
Faith-based subscription box HelloBible is perfect for Christian families with young children starting to learn about their beliefs. Each month, HelloBible focuses on a specific biblical story, providing a storybook, reading guide, and interactive craft projects for children to grow in their faith, bond with their family, and create artistic keepsakes.
Alyson Simons, My Be Better Box
This quarterly subscription helps women accomplish the weekly challenges of the Be Better Movement through guides to 13 weekly challenges and 6-8 products to complete each challenge. Moreover, by subscribing, you’re helping other women achieve their own goals: for every challenge you complete, My Be Better Box and its partner brands will donate to maternal health charities.
Andres Vallejo and Stéphane Jolicoeur, Pickleball Pack
Remember pickleball from gym class? Well, it’s a rapidly growing sport in the U.S., and Pickleball Pack is here for all your pickleball needs! Each month, you’ll receive a mix of specialty tools to play (like overgrips and balls) and high-quality athletic goods (like protein bars and electrolyte-packed drinks to stay hydrated, plus sports apparel and other accessories).
Kimmie Iula and Katie McCormick, Bold Blossoms
This gorgeous floral subscription includes a fresh, curated and hand-tied bouquet to your door each month! It’s been proven that flowers help boost one’s mood. Treat yourself with Bold Blossoms.
Alex Schneider, All Day Mate
Did you know that yerba mate has the health benefits of green tea and offers the energy of coffee? It’s also full of antioxidants! This healthful subscription box provides three kinds of yerba mate and one accessory for enjoying your mate beverage each month.
Sarah Jane Alleman, The Introverted Chick
This subscription box offers a range of exciting products for introverted women with attitude! The high-quality mix of products in each box will help you express yourself – and treat yourself.
Fiona and Neil McKinnon, 4 Little Girls
This monthly subscription, geared toward young black girls, includes 3-5 full-size products to encourage their interest in STEAM fields, educate them about their history, and empower them with positive images of black women. In short, it’s black girl magic in a box.
Wendy Lattimore, Snail Mail for Kids
This subscription box is a simple – and brilliant – concept: once a week, your child receives a letter in the mail from Sunny the Mail Snail. Each letter encourages your child’s imagination, builds a love of reading, and educates them on subjects as varied as the Nile River and entomology.
Denise Gilmore-McPherson and Kala Garner, BetternessBox
BetternessBox works to help you live with intention – to build wellness, fitness, and beauty habits that help accomplish your goals. You’ll receive a themed, curated mix of self-care items like body care products, candles, fitness accessories, and snacks in each box to live your best life.
Katie Gross, The Lash Artist Box
Founded by a professional lash artist, this unique subscription box offers premium industry tools and supplies for lash artists at an affordable, accessible price. Each box also includes high-quality products for pampering after work, professional tips, and access to an exclusive online community to learn more about building your own lash business.
Walmir Luz and Phil Paul, All Mies
This minimalist watch subscription, created for (and by) stylish millennials who want to avoid overinflated retail prices, provides a custom-made fashion watch to subscribers each month. Subscribers can amp up their styles and save their wallet at the same time.
Melanie Tawil, The Whole Box
Perfect for Whole30 enthusiasts, the Whole Box offers 5-7 products each month free of gluten, soy, sugar, or dairy. In addition, each month includes a bonus household product to stay productive and on-target for your Whole30 round.
Virginia Chochon and Marie Heiland, Naples Olive Oil Company
This scrumptious subscription box sends subscribers delicious, high-quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar pairings for home cooks. Whether you’re a huge foodie or a casual cook, these pairings will tip your meals from good to spectacular! Each box also includes two recipe cards.
Julie Moses and Doug Corbett, Bliss Kit
This modern wellness box offers an array of all natural, organic products for beauty and body, as well as rituals for practicing self-care and mindfulness, on a quarterly basis. Additionally, Bliss Kit will donate a percentage of its proceeds to nonprofits – to be selected by subscribers – each quarter.
Andi Brown, Andiamo
Andiamo – the Italian word for “let’s go!” – is a bimonthly travel subscription focusing on different Italian regions and themes. In each box, you’ll receive authentically delicious, fun, and handmade Italian products that bring the spirit of Italy home.
Elizabeth Rupp, Kawaii Craft Kits
This DIY subscription offers a unique look at Japanese-style craft projects not seen often in the U.S. Monthly subscribers receive instructions and supplies for a project in a new medium – like paper crafts, woodburning, and polymer clays. Since projects are inspired by Japanese kawaii culture, the supplies you’ll receive are international.
Brionne Downs, Maven Bliss
Maven Bliss, a monthly subscription for badass women everywhere, helps you achieve that longed-for work/life balance with inspiring online-only content and an exclusive community in addition to their actual subscription box. The box itself comes with a mix of high-quality products for your self-care and sanity, helping you accomplish your career goals and take care of yourself in the meantime.
Heather Kain, Project Pinup
This retro fashion subscription box is ideal for hip rockabilly babes. Founded by owners of a jewelry store in Arizona, Project Pinup provides handcrafted jewelry and other accessories (like patches, stickers, and buttons) worth $60-90 for a box price of $25. Each monthly box will be curated around a monthly theme, like mermaids, goth, or Victorian-inspired jewelry.
Edita Armatuni, Muse Illuminate
Members of Muse Illuminate benefit from the same experience you’d get at a professional seminar – delivered right to your door. Every box includes a motivational book from the New York Times bestseller list, in addition to 3-5 “bookish” products, exclusive workbooks and goal-oriented activity sheets. In addition, members receive exclusive access to training webinars and Muse’s inspirational podcast.
Joe Bereski, Sports Box Co.
Sports Box is just that: a subscription customized for whichever sport your child plays (whether baseball/softball, football, soccer or hockey). In every monthly box, your child will receive a mix of sports gears, training accessories, and other sport-related products to help them have fun and grow as athletes.
Tia Harrington, Your College K.I.T.
This much-needed subscription is a monthly care package for college students, offering a range of snacks, toiletries, and household items (like cleaning and laundry supplies). Each month, Your College K.I.T. bases the box around a seasonal theme, like “orientation” or “final exams.”
Eliana Cardeño, Kiyomi Beauty Box
Skincare can be confusing – there are so many options, it’s difficult to find the right solution for your body. In that way, Kiyomi Beauty Box is a lifesaver; they navigate the Korean beauty industry for you and include high-quality products for all skin types and lifestyles. The bimonthly subscription also provides easy-to-use instructions for 5-6 full-size, affordable products curated from luxury Korean beauty brands in each box.
Angela Sgarlata and Leslie Lemieux, The V Spot
This monthly crafting subscription sends subscribers a fun selection of vinyl appliques – along with project guidance and occasional bonus items. Whether you’re into decals or DIY tees, this subscription is perfect for crafters of all stripes.
Jim Steiner, Planet Brunch
Planet Brunch offers the experience of breakfasting abroad every month! This subscription, featuring an international food destination every month, includes authentic coffee or tea and a curation of brunch foods. Each box also includes a “culinary guide” to each destination to learn more.
Ashley Greeno, Ten Thousand Cookies
This delicious (and gluten-free!) cookie subscription grew out of the founders’ wish to raise funds for their family’s adoption. They’ve sold 4,000 so far and there’s no stopping them! Treat your sweet tooth – and help a family while you’re at it.
Jan Patel, Glamour Jewelry Box
This jewelry subscription box offers subscribers three gorgeous, boutique-style pieces each month: a necklace, bracelet, and a ring or earrings. In addition, you’ll also receive a suede dust bag and get to try a different style of jewelry monthly.
Betsy Wild, We Craft Box
This beautiful crafting box specializes in art projects for kids, with themed kits and stories every month. Each box includes enough materials for two children to create the projects together, plus easy-to-use directions with step-by-step photo illustrations.
Christopher Hough, ArtiKen
This globally-minded subscription box offers unique, handcrafted jewelry and other wearable accessories made by Maasai artisans in Kenya. With each box, you help support a multitude of Kenyan artists and their communities. Furthermore, a full 10% of proceeds is donated to support clean water projects in Kenya!
Pam Kattouf and Patricia Miller, Beloved Bath
By subscribing to this homebody box, you’ll not only receive luxury self-care products to help you relax, but you’ll also be making a difference: Beloved Bath’s mission is to provide employment and professional training opportunities for people on the autism spectrum. Each box comes with handmade candles or bath products (like soaps, scrubs, lotions or bath bombs) in a certain theme.
Paul Nguyen, Half It
Half It offers a wide variety of exciting products for on-trend health and fitness devotees, from premium brands like RXBAR and Optimum Nutrition (to fuel your workout) to Adidas and Nike (to support you while you do that workout). Moreover, Half It will develop and curate exclusive new brands only for their subscribers.
Kate Borgelt, Everyday Manifest
This unique subscription box offers a potentially life-changing experience for subscribers: a 30-day challenge each month. Every box will include a brand-new vision board, 30-day journal to document your challenge, habit and goal trackers, and other tools and inspirational goodies to motivate you during each challenge.
Dalton Hamilton and Cassie Shey, High-Strung
This subscription box includes a fresh set of high-quality guitar strings and picks each month, plus a bonus surprise item. Guitar aficionados can jam out in peace with the security that they’ll receive a new set of strings!
Erica Battle, Educationally Yours
Educationally Yours is a “classroom in a box”! Teachers who subscribe will receive themed decorations and fun, motivational products for the classroom (for both teacher and students) each month.
Pam Farley, Comic Crate
This subscription box’s founders have owned a comics store for over 20 years, so they know what they’re talking about! Comic Crate offers two subscription plans for children and teenage readers: G-Rated (“all ages”) and PG+ Rated (“teen” or “teen+”). Each month, you’ll receive 6 comics that have been handpicked by the owners from their store.
