France-based online second-hand fashion marketplace Vestiaire Collective raised $64m from investors including media group Condé Nast and Korelya Capital, a venture capital firm backed by internet group Naver.
The round also featured funds managed by financial services and investment group Fidelity International and French state-owned investment bank BPIfrance, in addition to Cuir Invest, the investment arm of Société Internationale du Cuir, a professional body for leather producers.
Vaultier7, Vitruvian Partners, Luxury Tech Fund, Eurazeo’s Growth and Idinvest Venture funds and Vestiaire Collective CEO Max Bittner filled out the round.
Vestiaire Collective runs a peer-to-peer e-commerce platform where users can sell and buy second-hand luxury items, such as clothing, jewellery, homeware and accessories. It authenticates each product prior to listing.
The service has grown to more than 9 million users across 90 countries, and the company processes more than 60,000 products per week.
The funding will go towards an expansion into Korea and Japan that will be supported by the expertise of Korelya and Naver. Vestiaire Collective will launch direct shipping between users in the US in the coming months and plans to extend it to Asia by the end of 2020.
Max Bittner said: “I am personally convinced that this unprecedented period of disruption will not only challenge where we shop but how we shop.
“Vestiaire Collective was built during the 2008 crisis, and proves today how it can help people in their daily life to make the most out of their belongings, but also to access fashion in a sustainable and conscious way.”
The company has raised some $240m in funding since it was founded in 2009. Condé Nast took part in a $36.8m series D round in 2015 together with Eurazeo, Idinvest Partners, Balderton Capital and Ventech, having already led a $20m series C in 2013 with contributions from the later three firms.
Image courtesy of Vestiaire Collective.
