Participated · Equity · Apr 2020

Vestiaire Collective is a social-commerce platform founded in 2009 that curates and connects buyers and sellers of luxury pre-owned fashion, with an inventory of about 3 million items and offices in Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and a tech hub in Berlin. The company is a Certified B Corporation focused on promoting circular fashion and sustainability and launched a "Brand Approved" buy-back service in collaboration with Kering’s house Alexander McQueen. Over the past 12 months Vestiaire grew orders by more than 90% globally, 100% in the US (now its largest market), and 150% in Asia. It recently raised €178M in a fresh funding round that values the company at $1.7B (approx €1.44B). Proceeds will be used to accelerate strategic objectives including educating consumers and brands, improving proprietary technology and services, entering new markets and expanding existing ones, and promoting local transactions to lower carbon footprints. The company aims to become carbon neutral by 2026 and has initiatives such as a local-to-local shipping scheme, increasing direct shipping (now over 50% of orders) which has saved over 1,150 tonnes of CO2, and 100% reduced/recycled/recyclable "less is more" packaging. Vestiaire Collective operates an online marketplace for pre-owned luxury and fashion items. The company authenticates some items before they reach buyers and offers reimbursement for direct-shipping purchases that are wrong. Transaction volume doubled in 2020 versus 2019, and the platform receives about 140,000 new listings every week. It has been expanding rapidly in the U.S. and Asia, with local sellers in those regions selling more than 250% more items year‑over‑year as of January 2021. With the new funding, Vestiaire plans to develop brand partnerships for buy-back circular solutions, encourage selling alongside purchases, pursue B Corp certification and target carbon neutrality by 2026. The company also intends to hire 155 people in its technology team to support growth. Vestiaire Collective is a marketplace for pre-owned fashion where users buy and sell clothes and accessories. The platform has 9 million members across 90 countries and reports that 80% of transactions are cross-border. The company raised $64.2M (€59M) in its latest round and has raised more than €209M in total, per Crunchbase. Vestiaire has shifted from requiring sellers to send items to warehouses to enabling direct shipping from seller to buyer; direct shipping launched in Europe in September 2019 and now accounts for over 50% of orders there. The company will use the new capital to expand to more countries, with plans to enter South Korea and Japan this year. Vestiaire plans to introduce direct shipping in the U.S. in the summer and in Asia by the end of 2020. Vestiaire Collective operates a curated marketplace for luxury and premium pre-owned fashion with a catalogue of around 1,000,000 items that are checked for quality and authenticity once sold. The platform has over 8 million members across 50 countries and maintains offices in Paris, London, New York, Milan, Berlin and Hong Kong. Launched in Paris in October 2009, the company emphasizes sustainable fashion and peer-to-peer resale. Vestiaire positions technology and curation at the core of its product offering to ensure authenticity and quality control. The company reported strong Asian momentum, citing 140% GMV growth in Q2 2019. It plans to expand internationally and to accelerate hiring as part of its growth strategy. Vestiaire Collective is a French online marketplace for pre-owned fashion and accessories that emphasizes a premium, curated shopping experience by checking every item before listing. The company aims to turn local success into a global business, already leading in the U.K., Germany, Spain and Italy. France remains its largest market, accounting for 35% of sales. Vestiaire has an office in the U.S. and plans to grow sales there, with further expansion to Asia planned for 2017. The company is investing in logistics, including an upcoming facility in France to expand its inventory across Europe. To date it has raised significant capital to support this expansion and scale its operations.

Led · Equity · Feb 2019

Little Spoon produces fresh, direct-to-consumer subscription baby and children’s meals, including Babyblends organic purees, Plates toddler and kids’ meals, and its Booster line of vitamins and natural remedies. Babyblends is priced at under $3 per meal and Plates at under $5 per meal. Since launch the company has delivered more than 15 million meals and is on track for more than 300% revenue growth. This year Little Spoon quadrupled its team from 10 to 37 employees. The company is building a community and content platform called “Is This Normal” to engage parents and considers that platform central to its product experience. Management plans to use new funding to expand operations, increase capacity, invest in community and content, and develop new products as it pursues a holistic children's nutrition solution. Little Spoon, launched in 2018, is a direct-to-consumer children’s food and nutrition company offering fresh meals, a recently launched Plates product line, and a parenting community platform called Is This Normal. The company pairs product offerings with a digital community that includes 1:1 Care Team support, anonymous expert Q&A, and the Is The Normal? game. Little Spoon has shipped over 9 million meals and reported revenue growth of over 300% since the start of the pandemic; its Plates launch sold out in the first week and generated a waitlist. The team emphasizes transparency, nutritive standards, and convenience to address gaps in the baby and toddler food category. Little Spoon runs multiple give-back and employer-partnership programs (including #Passthelittleplate and Little by Little) and has partnered with Amazon, Union Square Hospitality, Lettuce Entertain You, La Colombe, and Feeding America; it has donated more than $100,000 in meals to food banks. Little Spoon is a direct-to-consumer, subscription-based company producing modular packages of organic baby food. Members receive personalized meal plans and the site offers a rotating menu of 50 recipes using 80 ingredients. Meals are sold at a fixed price of $3 apiece, and the company says it has delivered 1 million meals to date. Its packaging is 100 percent recyclable, spoon included, which the company says promotes motor-skill development and mindful eating. Co-founders include Michelle Muller, CEO Ben Lewis, CPO Angela Vranich, and CMO Lisa Barnett; the team launched the business a little over a year ago out of New York. The startup plans to use the new capital to expand its line of baby meals. Little Spoon is a prepared baby-food delivery service that ships fresh, refrigerated 4 oz meals for infants. The company produces meals using high-pressure processing (HPP) to lock in nutrients and avoid additives and owns its production facility. Little Spoon ships up to two weeks' worth of meals, pricing meals at $2.99 each in bulk (three meals a day) or up to $4.99 individually, with flavors that change by age. Although the service is available in New York, the company’s food-processing facility is in California and it says products can ship anywhere in a day, enabling geographic expansion. The founding team includes co-founder Michelle Muller (the “chief mom”), CEO Ben Lewis, CPO Angela Vranich, and CMO Lisa Barnett. The startup has taken a couple million from angel investors, including Sean Rad and Kyle O’Brien, and plans to raise more as needed. The article notes several other baby-meal startups have struggled, highlighting market risk for niche meal-delivery ventures.