An undisclosed funding, which values My Flash Trash at $5 million (£3.1 million), will be used to ramp up the company’s activities through more hiring.
Speaking to GrowthBusiness, Atherton says that prior to a small angel funding round in late 2011 with a few ex-hedge fund backers, the business had been entirely self-funded from its sales and revenues from her modelling work.
Atherton (21) founded the company when she was 16 and still at school. ‘It was one of many ventures I started throughout my teenage years, predominantly online,’ she adds.
‘It was very much a situational opportunity, I brought some stock back from Hong Kong [where she was living] and started up a blog, selling the goods alongside it. It became part of a wider plan to set up a e-commerce business and offer services as well to designers.’
Atherton was also one of the founders behind television show Made In Chelsea, a reality show which charts the lives of young socialites in Chelsea, London.
She says that her time on TV has opened up a number of doors for her and ended up acting as a bit of a free advertising campaign for her business.
‘It allowed the business to reach hundreds of thousands of people and it massively impacted sales and brand exposure,’ she reveals.
More on angel funding:
- Attracting angel funding
- Angel CoFund makes first five commitments
- Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme
The funding round was initiated when Atherton received approaches from VC firms in a situation which she says was ‘out of the blue’. ‘This was before I had even spoken to any angel investors and that stirred my curiosity and i started reaching out to my own network to find out who had invested in start-ups,’ she adds.
Ahluwalia, one of two new angel investors in My Flash Trash, comments, ‘[The business] has achieved phenomenal growth in 2012 by identifying and capitalising on the global demand for quirky vintage jewellery.
‘This cash injection is set to help Amber and her team raise the bar even higher in 2013 and become a true international player in this market.’
