A £2.5 million funding round for Boticca.com signifies the second time that the website has raised a seven-figure funding round.
Founded in 2010 by Kiyan Foroughi and Avid Larizadeh, the venture is an online fashion accessories retailer which puts customers in direct contact with international emerging jewellery and accessories designers using a marketplace model.
To date, London-based Boticca.com has sourced some 330 creative independent designers and ’emerging brands’ and has listings for 10,000 products from 40 countries.
Institutional backer MMC Ventures has stepped in as a new backer, with the capital earmarked to grow Boticca.com’s team and enter new markets by offering local language versions.
Individual investors taking part in the Series A deal originate in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. One of the disclosed backers is Turkish entrepreneur Sina Afra, the CEO and chairman of Markafoni and ex-European director of M&A for eBay.
Back in March 2011, Boticca.com closed its maiden funding round, a seed transaction led by ISAI and worth £1.5 million. It was only after the 2011 round that the company became profitable on customer acquisition on a first-sale basis, and recorded sales and traffic growth of 150 per cent year-on-year.
Foroughi, co-founder and CEO of Boticca.com, comments, ‘We’re very excited by this new round of investment which is a testament to the pioneering and sustainable business model the entire team has built these past 2.5 years.
‘We look forward to working with our new investors to continue our international expansion and give independent brands the recognition and distribution they deserve.’
New investor MMC Ventures already has a number of fashion/retail businesses contained in its portfolio including: Wool and the Gang and Alexandalexa.
MMC Ventures partner Jon Coker adds, ‘We believe there is a huge opportunity for them in a fragmented market.
‘We have been extremely impressed by Avid and Kiyan, their vision for the business and culture they have built in the team and are very much looking forward to working with them.’
