U.S. independent fashion e-boutique raises 2 million dollars in funding

Seattle-based fashion startup Garmentory has secured a 2 million dollar investment round led by MHS Capital, with participation from previous investors such as Founder’s Co-op. Total funding to date is 3.6 million dollars.

Launched by the startup incubator Techstarts Seattle in 2014, Garmentory hosts a marketplace that connects about 350 small physical boutiques and thousands of independent designers with online customers around the world, explains ‘Geekweek’.

“We made the transition from seed stage — where you spend all your time working on product market fit and testing things — to building the foundation for growth stage,” Garmentory’s CEO John Scrofano said in an interview with ‘Geekweek’.

“We raised for the reasons that an entrepreneur hopes for: new staff to keep up with the aggressive growth and do more of what’s working, and new investment to build the next layer of sophistication and test even bigger ideas,” further explained the company’s CEO.

The company founded by Sunil Gowda and boutique fashion entrepreneur Adele Tetangco will use the new funding to hire more employees and with a view to expand into menswear next year.

As a result of the investment round, MHS Capital’s Vijay Nagappan will join Garmentory’s board of directors.

“We invested in Garmentory because we see the opportunity to change the face of retail and this is the company to do it,” Nagappan said in a statement. “We love that this platform brings the community of boutiques and designers to the forefront while providing consumers a new and curated shopping experience.”

According to Scrofano, sales have grown by 500 percent year-over-year, mainly due to “organic growth with very little paid advertising.”

Scrofano said that Garmentory is “creating the next generation of retail for the contemporary segment,” which he describes as apparel that sells in the $75-to-$600 range and can be found at retailers like Nordstrom and Barney’s.

“We have a very different view of the future for the contemporary segment than the department stores, though,” he concluded.