Try this on: Farfetc has joined the unicorn ranks with a $1.5bn valuation
London fashion e-commerce site Farfetch has joined the unicorn ranks after raising $110m in a Series F funding round that values the company at $1.5bn.
Founded in 2008, Farfetch is a global community of more than 400 fashion boutiques that connects high-end fashion retailers with customers in nine languages and in 190 countries.
Partners include high-end boutiques such as Browns in London, L’Eclaireur in Paris, H. Lorenzo in LA, Kirna Zabête in New York and Excelsior, Milan; and brands include Derek Lam, J.W Anderson, Roksanda, AMI Paris, Dion Lee and La Perla.
The Series F round was led by Temasek, IDG Capital Partners and Eurazeo, as well as existing investor Vitruvian.
‘The vision for Farfetch was always to seamlessly integrate physical retail with digital platforms’
– JOSÉ NEVES, FARFETCH
The latest funding round brings to $304.5m the money the company has raised in six rounds from 13 investors.
The company doesn’t carry any of its own inventories, instead connecting buyers directly with sellers.
Fashioning a global empire
Farfetch grew total transaction value more than 70pc in 2015 to more than $500m.
The investment will be used to expand Farfetch’s proprietary technology platform and establish it as a leading omni-channel platform for boutiques and brands around the world.
China alone represents 12pc of Farfetch’s sales.
“The vision for Farfetch was always to seamlessly integrate physical retail with digital platforms, which we have been doing since 2008, first starting with boutiques and 12 months ago adding brands to our global platform,” said José Neves, founder and CEO of Farfetch.
“This investment comes after strong inbound interest from investors, some of which we felt could really help Farfetch in our largest and fastest growing markets, or had exposure to marketplaces and luxury fashion.”
London fashion week image via Shutterstock
