Although the number of beauty industry deals is creeping up—investment bank Capstone Partners estimates they increased nearly 33% from last year to 57 year-to-date as of last month—the well for early-stage beauty brand funding remains pretty dry. In light of the difficulties emerging beauty brands face securing capital in the post-ZIRP environment, for the latest edition of our ongoing series posing questions relevant to indie beauty, we asked 17 founders the following: What’s your approach to fundraising? How much are you trying to raise? Why should investors back your brand? What are the biggest challenges to raising money? How are you addressing them?