A seed funding round worth $2.1 million (£1.35 million) is set to allow The Business of Fashion (BoF) to build out its team and enhance its technology platform.
Set up by fashion business adviser, writer and digital entrepreneur Imran Amed in 2007 as a personal blog, the digital fashion business has so far been bootstrapped.
BoF provides a resource for fashion executives, creatives and entrepreneurs consisting of interviews with influential fashion figures such as the global chief executives of Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabbana.
To coincide with the investment, BoF has launched a new website as it looks to capitalise on a global fashion, luxury and apparel industry which it says is worth $1.5 trillion.
Joining Index Ventures as backers of BoF is French luxury goods group LVMH, Samos Investments, Carmen Busquets, Novel TMT Ventures and Advancit Capital.
BoF now sits alongside the likes of Net-a-Porter, ASOS, Etsy and Nasty Gal as fashion orientated deals closed by early-stage investor Index Ventures.
More on Index Ventures’ fashion transactions:
- Index backs US fashion e-tailer Nasty Gal
- Etsy buys mobile app start-up
- Stylistpick struts its stuff to secure new investment
- Second shareholder for Moleskine
Amed, founder and CEO of BoF, comments, ‘Over the past decade, the fashion industry has been radically reshaped by the forces of rapid globalisation, disruptive technology and a post-recessionary economy, which has created a dramatically changed landscape for executives, investors and other industry professionals to navigate each day.
‘Today, BoF enters a new phase of growth, with a great group of investors to support us. Each investor brings real strategic value to the table, and will be bale to assist us in building a model for a next generation fashion media company suited for our increasingly global, digital and connected world.’
Headquartered in London, with local networks in the US, EU, China, Brazil and India, 40 per cent of BoF traffic comes from Europe, 40 per cent from the Americas and 20 per cent from Asia and Australia.
Robin Klein, partner at Index Ventures, says that BoF is providing insight and information in a way that is vital in meeting the challenges of the ‘digital revolution’ that is occurring in fashion.
He adds, ‘BoF is founded on the principle that the highest quality information and content is as essential to the business of fashion as to the business of anything.
‘Imran is a fantastic entrepreneur and we are looking forward to working with him as he continues to build his important next generation media company.’
