FINAL WORD
OVER THE PAST YEAR , IT ’ S SPENT SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNTS OF MONEY ON THE TECH IN THE BACKGROUND , MAKING IT MUCH MORE NIMBLE AND LESS LIKELY TO MISS A GOOD DEAL .
When we decided to invest more than US $ 5 million in 2020 , Hammerschmidt ’ s leadership and passion for the business she ’ d built up were significant factors . That focus on leadership proved to be prudent when COVID-19 struck and e-commerce activities in South Africa were severely curtailed .
Hammerschmidt guided the company through this particularly tricky time , overseeing its expansion beyond fashion and into homeware and other categories . The company has also been much smarter in the way it buys and sells , refining the algorithms it uses . Over the past year , it ’ s spent substantial amounts of money on the tech in the background , making it much more nimble and less likely to miss a good deal .
The level of agility displayed by RunwaySale had to be mirrored by us as investors too . As the playing field changed , thanks to COVID-19 and lockdown , we knew that we had to adjust our assumptions straightaway . Importantly , we realised we shouldn ’ t be married to what our investment case had been just a month before .
We probably wouldn ’ t have felt as comfortable doing that if we didn ’ t have the working relationship we do with Hammerschmidt ’ s leadership team at RunwaySale and the wider board .
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It ’ s important to reiterate that RunwaySale wouldn ’ t have been able to achieve those things if it didn ’ t have the leadership to guide it through the necessary changes .
We recognise that as investors and believe that it ’ s pivotal to making good investments .
The results speak for themselves . Whereas previously , RunwaySale was competing with a small cohort of other online fashion outlets , it ’ s now competing with traditional brick and mortar stores .
That ’ s true whether we ’ re investing in businesses with male or female leadership . But when it comes to closing the gender gap and ensuring better funding for female-founded and run businesses , it ’ s critical . x
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