Following an initial investment in February, the UK private buying club Secretsales has raised a second round of funding from Germany’s Brands4friends. The actual amount is once again undisclosed but is in the “multi-million pound” region.
Secretsales runs so-called “flash sales” of fashion, beauty, travel, lifestyle and home wares, offering up to 70% off brands such as Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Christian Dior. The company says it has seen a doubling of visitors since Brand4friends’ initial investment, and now claims over 1 million unique users per month.
It’s on this basis that Brands4friends, which reported an annual turnover of €80m for its German business last year, decided to up its stake with the “intention to drive Secretsales.com to continue to dominate the UK private sales market online.”
Launched in July 2007, Secretsales is co-founded by Nish Kukadia, Sach Kukadia, Silvia Cody and Michael Cody, and is located in London’s Notting Hill.