My-Wardrobe secures $9 million Series A lead by Balderton to expand abroad

E-commerce continues to provide a rich seam of businesses for European tech investors and this is represented today by a series A funding in an online retailer of ‘affordable’ designer fashion. My-wardrobe.com today announces a $9 million Series A investment round led by Balderton Capital, the first institutional investor in the company, supported by existing angel investors.

Dharmash Mistry, partner at Balderton Capital, will join the board joining existing members: Nick Wheeler, CEO of Charles Tyrwhitt; Carol Duncumb, former Intimas CEO; Jean-Marc Bouhelier, executive chairman of my-wardrobe.com; and founder and CEO Sarah Curran (pictured).

The site offers what it calls ‘accessible luxury’ womenswear and menswear ranges from over 180 of the world’s leading designer brands such as Mulberry, Polo Ralph Lauren, Paul Smith, and Joseph. In practice that means discounted items, but the difference is that my-wardrobe.com only sells current season collections.

The company plans to use the capital injection to add more premium brands, improve the product and drive into international markets. So far it says it’s attracting over 800,000 visitors to the site every month, up 110 per cent from last year, and has had some success with “click-to-buy” video content. The company has 85 employees in London and Nottingham.

Curran left school at 18, eventually becoming a a sub-editor for the Times Online, but she left to open a London fashion boutique, Powder. While living in France with her husband, she launched a more virtual business, my-wardrobe.com, in December 2005 and by late 2006 it was outperforming Powder in monthly sales.

The site has since become one of the UK’s fastest growing ecommerce businesses, claiming 100% revenue growth in recent years. It’s positioned at a mid-level pricepoint between Net-a-Porter.com on the high-end and Asos.com on the low-end.