London-based retailer Trouva has received a 17 million pound investment
to help fuel its international expansion.
The funding, led by Octopus Ventures alongside C4 Ventures, Downing Ventures,
BGF and LocalGlobe, will help the company “further establish itself as the global
destination for the best of independent retail” and comes as the online marketplace
officially launches its German website.
Trouva also announced the appointment of Juliet Warkentin as chief marketing
officer. She joins from Amazon Fashion and has previously worked as editor at
Drapers and Marie Claire.
Commenting on the new investment in a statement, co-founder Mandeep Singh,
said: “At Trouva, we envision a world where beautiful offline inventory is easily
available to all. Over the last 12 months, we’ve taken important steps in achieving
this by further extending our platform to the greatest independents across Europe
and nearly doubling our network of retailers, with top boutiques achieving hundreds
of thousands of pounds of sales through Trouva.com.
Trouva eyes international growth
“We will be using this latest investment to grow international demand and
are excited to officially launch in Germany as we start to broaden our customer
base and expand into new European markets. As we continue to scale rapidly,
we will also continue to build a world-class team with this funding round.
We’re thrilled to bring Juliet onboard as chief marketing officer with her
experience developing and managing high-profile brands.”
Today, 40 percent of Trouva’s retailer network comprises bricks-and-mortar
stores outside of the UK, across 12 European countries.
The company was named one of the five most exciting high-growth startups
in the UK, according to Startups 100 Index 2019.
Co-founder Alex Loizou, said: “We’re excited to be taking one more step
towards solving one of the biggest questions in retail today: ‘Where do you
go if you are looking for inspiration, and you don’t know what you want?’.
We believe that the incredible wealth of inventory coming from the master
curators of the offline world is the answer to that question. We’re at the
forefront of this transformation of retail, one powered by inspiration and
discovery which unites the best of online and offline.”
Launched in London in 2015, Trouva began its international expansion
last year with the launch of 20 boutiques in Berlin. It now offers in excess
of 200,000 products from more than 800 independents in over 300 towns and
cities, including Paris, Lisbon, Rome and Barcelona.
Photo credit: Trouva, Facebook
