Japan eponymous corporate venturing units Itochu Technology Ventures and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital were joined by Infinity Ventures Partners (IVP) in a $3.4m (Y350m) series B round of funding for local fashion e-commerce startup Muse & Co.
The three existing investors have come back to help accelerate the company’s growth nearly a year later from the company’s series A round of which financial details were not made public, but was reportedly less than the latest fundraising.
Muse targets young professional women with a unique selling point of VIP flash sales, following on from similar models, such as Japan’s Luxa.jp.
Hirotake Kubo, chief executive at Muse, has said that the startup has 200,000 users and sees $500,000 in monthly sales, with 50% of that income from mobile shopper, according to Japan venture news site, Startup-Dating news report. But what makes the site particularly unique is that 70% of traffic comes from mobile devices since the sales are available through apps for iPhone and Android.
Founded in February 2012, the stock is limited to just 30 per item with flash sales available for just one week. Other similar flash sale models in Europe include interior design site, Achica.com in the UK.