Otrium, an online fashion outlet marketplace with hundreds of designer stores all in one place has recently raised $120 million (approx £87 million) in a Series C funding co-led by London VCs — BOND and Index Ventures. Eight Road Ventures, also a London-based global venture capital fund, participated in the round, which is also an early investor in e-commerce tech giant Alibaba.
This funding comes ten months after it raised $26 million (approx £18 million) from Eight Roads Ventures, Index Ventures, and Hans Veldhuizen. Post the latest funding round, the company values at roughly £653 million.
How will the funding be used?
As a part of the funding round, Juliet de Baubigny, a general partner at BOND, will join Otrium’s board of directors. The company will use the funding to accelerate US expansion, the development of Otrium’s technology platform, and to support hiring.
Marketplace for designer clothes
Founded in 2016 by Milan Daniëls and Max Klijnstra, Otrium is an online fashion-outlet, where brands have an opportunity to connect with fashionlovers to sell last seasons’ collections. The Fashionistas can register on Otrium and get some deals, while fashion brands can trade their previous collection and collect insights about their shoppers. The purpose is to prolong the life cycle of fashion, by stopping stock-piling in warehouses.
“Our goal is to get as close as possible to eradicating unsold seasonal inventory. Firstly, we help fashion brands find homes for clothing items that would otherwise remain unsold and maximise the revenue they generate on those items. Secondly, we leverage our in-depth analytics to help brands determine which clothing and at what quantities and price will sell the most in the future,” commented Milan Daniels, CEO, and co-founder of Otrium.
The platform provides brands with an online outlet channel and digital tools to connect dynamically-priced end-of-season collections with fashion-lovers.
The Dutch company also rolled out expanded analytics functionality which helps fashion houses analyse past demand to determine which items have staying power, potentially becoming iconic items for brands.
“We believe that the fashion world will see a rebalancing in the next few years, with more sales being driven by iconic items that brands sell year after year, and will be less reliant on new seasonal launches. We work with brands to help them understand which of their items will stand the test of time, at what price and quantity,” Daniels added.
Full control over pricing
When selling end-of-season collections on Otrium, fashion houses retain full control over pricing, merchandising, and visibility of their excess inventory. Around, 12% of clothing produced stays unsold.
Revenue tripled in 2020
The company also revealed that the revenues tripled in 2020, and registered members surpassed 3 million.
To date, Otrium has over 300 fashion stores on its app including Karl Lagerfeld, Joseph, Anine Bing, Belstaff, Reiss, and ASICS. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company operates in the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Germany.
“I look forward to partnering with the Otrium team as the company expands to the US, and believe the platform is well-positioned to bring dynamic and affordable solutions to the apparel market,” said Juliet de Baubigny, a general partner at BOND.
Danny Rimer, Index Ventures General Partner and board member of Otrium, says, “It’s not an entirely new strategy in the fashion industry, but one that was limited to a few items and a small proportion of global fashion brands. With Otrium, every fashion label can begin to build their iconic portfolio.”