$
Thankfully, swelling online marketplaces
didn’t outshine the few great apps that saw
investments. Yes, I know, the word leverage
is strong enough to make anyone cringe, but
finding a way to monetize Instagram has
been a challenge for brands and sellers
everywhere. at being said, Tokyo-based
10sec ($1.6m) and San Francisco-based
Soldsie ($4M) are both developing easier
ways to shop the photo-based platform. In
addition to Instagram we saw a respectable
investment for Stylect ($500K) which uses a
le-right swipe, like Tinder, to rank shoes.
e app also uses the swipes to learn what
each user likes, providing a more
personalized experience the more the app is
used.
With 23 funding rounds, the
trends across fashion tech
were able to define
themselves. Seventeen of
the companies can be
summarized with an “online
social shopping”
description. We were excited
to see the amount of money
invested across the industry,
and we expect that the
market will continue to grow
as the summer sets in.
Summer 2014 is starting off
well, and if you’ve got a
great idea, this might be the
season to launch.
$689M INVESTMENT BREAKDOWN | 23
COMPANIES WERE INVESTED IN MAY:
WHERETOGET (Seed) $2M, Paris, France, Investors: Emmanuel Brunet,
Fabrice Grinda, Alven Captial | LIMEROAD (Series B) $15M, Gurgaon,
India, Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Matrix Partners India,
Tiger Global Management | SNAPRETAIL (Venture) $4.8M, Pittsburgh,
PA, Investors: Undisclosed | BASE (Seed) $3M, Tokyo, Japan, Investors:
Global Brain Corporation | DARBY SMART (Series A) $6.3M, San
Francisco, CA, Investors: Creative Artists Agency, Forerunner Ventures,
Maveron | COSMETHICS (Seed) $406.6K, Helsinki, Finland, Investors:
Angel investors | PINTEREST (Series F) $200M, San Francisco, CA,
Investors: Valiant Capital Partners, FirstMark Capital, Fidelity
Investments, Bessemer Venture Partners, SV Angel, Andreessen
Horowitz | SOLDSIE (Series A) $4M, San Francisco, CA, Investors: 500
Startups, e.ventures, Great Oaks Venture Captial, Correlation Ventures,
Lerer Ventures, Soft Tech VC, First Roun Capital | CLOAKROOM (Angel)
$1.63M, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Investors: Kees Koolen, Connect
Ventures | THE REALREAL (Series C) $20.4M, Belvedere Tiburon, NY,
Investors: Expansion Venture Capital, DBL Investors, Panarea Capital,
Novel TMT Ventures, Greycroft Partners, e.ventures, Canaan Ventures,
InterWest Partners | 10SEC (Seed) $1.6M, Tokyo, Japan, Investors:
CyberAgent | THE MICRO (Crowdfunding) $3.4M Bethesda, MD, Investors:
Crowdfunded (Kickstarter) | JEWELSTREET (Equity Crowdfunding)
$337K, London, England, Investors: Crowdfunded | FETCH (Seed) $2.3M,
Oakland, CA, Investors: Black Green Capital, Beechwood Capital, Cane
Investments LLC, Kapor Capital | HARRY’S (Venture) $10M, New York, NY,
Investors: Undisclosed | HELLO MARKET (Series A) $2.5M, Korea,
Investors: Daesung Private Equity, Hanwha Investment Corp, GSHS,
Hanbit Investment Co Ltd. | ETSY (Venture) $5.6M, Brooklyn, NY,
Investors: Undisclosed | EVERPURSE (Seed) $1M, Chicago Heights, IL,
Investors: SOSventures, HAXLR8R | TRADESY (Series B) $13M, Santa
Monica, CA, Investors: Richard Branson, Northgate Captial, Riverwood
Capital, Rincon Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers |
FLIPKART (Series F) $210M, Bangalore City, India, Investors: Iconiq
Capital, Naspers, Tiger Global Management, DST Global | AEROPOSTALE
(Post IPO Debt) $150M, New York, NY, Investors: Sycamore Partners |
STYLECT (Seed) 500K, London, England, Investors: Forward Partners |
SHOP.CA (Series B) $31M, Toronto, Canada, Investors: Pyramis Global
Advisors, Delaney Capital, Dynamic Funds, Shaw Ventures, Difference
Capital, Slaight Communications, Torstar Corporation
// 24