An online marketplace set up to facilitate the resale of what it describes as ‘trend driven’ luxury goods has added to the venture capital funding it has already received by closing a $20 million (£12.8 million) round.
Vestiaire Collective, which is headquartered in Paris with offices in London, has already closed two funding rounds worth €1.5 million in 2010 and €7.5 million in 2011.
Its new Series C funding also includes a commitment from Idinvest Partners, a pan-European investor which was formally part of Allianz Group until 2010.
Sebastien Fabre, co-founder and CEO of Vestiaire Collective, comments, ‘The legitimacy and the credibility of Condé Nast will reinforce our capacity to build an endless source of supply, pushing the convergence of pure user-generated content and media to create the most aspiring social shopping experience.’
As part of the deal, Condé Nast International head of digital James Bilefield will be joining the board of Vestiaire Collective in his roles as investments consultant.
More on fashion-based venture capital deals:
- Imran Amed’s The Business of Fashion dressed for growth
- Scottish Equity Partners struts its stuff
- Index Ventures backs US fashion e-tailer
Condé Nast’s involvement with the online venture will appeal to its ‘style conscious’ print and digital audiences around the world, its chairman and chief executive Jonathan Newhouse says.
‘As our media brands curate the latest fashion and accessories for the consumer, Vestiaire acts as a trusted intermediary between buyers and sellers of pre-owned items,’ he adds.
The last large investment from Condé Nast, which has publications including Wired and The New Yorker, come back in March when it led another $20 million deal, this time into London-based farfetched.
Contributions also came from Advent Venture Partners, Index Ventures and e.ventures into a business which collates 250 fashion boutiques from around the world.
