Boticca.com, the largest fashion accessories-only focused website in the world, today announced the closing of £2.5 million in Series A financing.
Participants in the round included UK-based VC firm MMC Ventures and High Net Worth Individuals in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, including Turkish entrepreneur Sina Afra, CEO and Chairman of Markafoni and former European director of M&A for eBay.
The company will use the fund to continue growing its team, further globalize by entering new markets and offering local language versions of its website and accelerate its marketing investment to keep building its customer database which now stands at over 400,000 users.
MMC Ventures Partner Jon Coker says, “We are delighted to have invested in Boticca, 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 the culture they have built in the team and are very much looking forward to working with them.”
Kiyan Foroughi, co-founder and CEO 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.”
In today’s market, creativity and innovation are more important than ever. Consumers are beginning to appreciate curated pieces more, simply because there’s a story behind it.
Boticca.com is the world’s luxury bazaar of fashion accessories with more than 330 independent designers and emerging brands from 40 countries and over 10,000 pieces available to buy. The website was launched in London in October 2010 by Kiyan Foroughi and Avid Larizadeh. Boticca.com is a highly curated marketplace which takes customers on an inspiring journey across the world via its editorial content to celebrate the best fashion accessories brands and connect them with customers in over 90 countries, thus bypassing traditional retail channels and their heavy margins.
Lolita A. Alford