Lyst, the leading global fashion platform, announces a pre-IPO round of financing of $85m.
New investors in the raise include certain funds managed by Fidelity International, Novator Capital, Giano Capital and C4 Ventures, coming in alongside existing investors including Draper Esprit, Steadfast Financial, 14W, Accel, Balderton Capital, Venrex and LVMH. In addition, serial entrepreneur and strategic advisor Carmen Busquets increased her investment in the company.
Lyst saw strong growth continue in 2020, with over 150m shoppers using the Lyst app and website to buy from an assortment of over 8m products from 17,000 brands and retailers. GMV last year exceeded $500m, following 1100% growth in new users on the Lyst app. Lifetime GMV is now over $2bn.
“Lyst is rapidly becoming a fashion category leader, which hundreds of millions of fashion lovers rely on to decide what to buy. While our app and website already enjoy very large audiences in the USA & Europe, fashion ecommerce remains under-penetrated in general, with huge growth potential globally. We’re excited to use this raise from top-tier investors to continue personalising the fashion shopping experience to each of our millions of customers, while helping our partner brands thrive.”
Chris Morton, CEO & Founder, Lyst
“Lyst has made huge progress over the past year with its industry leading app for the fast-growing online luxury fashion market – a trend which looks set to continue as consumers retain their newfound digital habits, and demand for fashion rises further post-pandemic. In recent years we have seen other high-growth fashion tech businesses taking the next step, and we believe Lyst is well positioned to capitalise on this market momentum. Draper Esprit has backed Lyst since Series A and we believe this latest round sets the business up for an exciting next phase.”
Nicola McClafferty, Partner, Draper Esprit
Additionally, Lyst announces:
Mateo Rando joins the Lyst team as Chief Product Officer, coming from Spotify where he was
the Product Director for Mobile Apps globally. Mateo will focus largely on the Lyst app, which last quarter was the most-downloaded premium fashion iOS app globally.
Emma McFerran is promoted to Chief Operating Officer and joins the Board, responsible for the
company’s strategic planning, finance, people and legal functions. Emma was previously Chief
People Officer & General Counsel, joining Lyst in 2014.
“Lyst is building the future of fashion shopping with a data-driven, highly personalised approach. Over the past few years fashion ecommerce has exploded, with more and more people managing their entire shopping journey online. I’m excited to join the team and deliver a truly personalised experience that also balances the chaos and beauty of fashion culture.”
Mateo Rando, Chief Product Officer, Lyst