The startup ships fashion apparels directly to 12 countries, including Australia, the US, Singapore, Hong Kong, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the UK
Grana, a direct-to-consumer online fashion retailer, has secured US$10 million in Series A round of funding led by Alibaba Group, under The Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund. Existing investors Golden Gate Ventures and Hong Kong-based MindWorks Ventures also co-invested.
The round will be closed by the end of this month.
With the new round of funding, the company plans to expand its presence in the US, its largest international market by setting up its first pop-up showroom experience in New York for customers to try offline and buy online, as well as build a local New York team to cater for its increasing customer base in the market.
Alibaba will also help Grana in its entry into mainland China.
Grana also plans to debut its new Italian shirting, silk bomber jackets and transitional knitwear collection this season.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, the startup was founded in October 2014 by Luke Grana and Pieter Paul Wittgen. The startup ships fashion apparels directly to 12 countries, including Australia, the US, Singapore, Hong Kong, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the UK.
Since its launch, the startup claims it continues to experience over 15 per cent month-on-month growth in sales. Following the Q1 announcement of its US$6 million in seed funding earlier this year, led by Golden Gate Ventures, MindWorks and Bluebell Group, the Grana team will move into a new 18,000 square-foot centralised warehouse in Hong Kong this month to manage business growth and plans to double its headcount to 100 employees by the end of 2017.
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“Grana has proved itself as an international e-commerce brand that uses a data-driven approach to optimise its business offering and create an excellent customer experience. They have a creative and energetic business culture which really resonates across their omni-channel and is indicative through their rapid growth. It is a very promising startup and we are looking forward to building a long term partnership,” said Cindy Chow, Executive Director at The Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund.
Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund is a not-for-profit initiative launched by Alibaba Group in 2015. The Fund’s mission is to help Hong Kong-based entrepreneurs and young people realise their dreams and visions for their businesses and communities.
Currently, the fund runs two programmes to fulfil this mission. The Investment Program provides Hong Kong-based entrepreneurs with investment capital and strategic guidance to help them grow their businesses and penetrate global markets by utilising Alibaba’s vast ecosystem. The Internship Program offers Hong Kong graduates and students from tertiary institutions a chance to learn with us by providing valuable internship opportunities at Alibaba Group and our affiliate companies.
Worldwide retail e-commerce sales is forecast to reach US$3.6 trillion in 2019, according to eMarketer, reporting that Asia Pacific is projected to account for 41 per cent of global retail e-commerce sales followed by 21 per cent from North America.
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