Secret Sales gets funding deal to boost Europe growth

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
May 3, 2023

Ambitious online fashion platform Secret Sales is understood to have secured $10 million in a Series B fundraising, a news report said on Wednesday.

The Sky News report says the new funding will be used to accelerate expansion into Europe, targeting 12 new markets adding to its current trading platforms in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The cash injection has been committed by the same backers that led Secret Sales' previous funding round in June 2021. They include Perwyn, the European private equity investor, and Belerion Capital, an e-commerce investor that backed ASOS, THG and Boohoo. Big Ideas Group, a growth-stage investor, also participated.

Secret Sales, which helps upscale brands sell surplus stock while allowing them to retain control of the products' branding and pricing, says it has accumulated an inventory of 25 million items with a combined value of £3 billion -- a year-on-year increase of 125%.

Chris Griffins, Secret Sales' chief executive, told Sky News: "With the current economic climate still uncertain, and the funding market particularly tricky to predict, we are extremely proud of our success in this Series B funding.

"The confidence of our existing investors is testament to the incredible results we have achieved during this past year, showing that there is significant reason and opportunity to invest in the Secret Sales business model worldwide.

"The ongoing demand from brands and retailers looking for an upmarket, profitable, and sustainable way to sell non-full price inventory has accelerated and we are fast becoming the only real 360-degree solution."

Iain McDonald, founder of Belerion Capital Group, and a non-executive director at Boohoo and THG, said the latest funding round "will allow an accelerated international rollout”.

The discount platform for premium clothing and beauty brands, which was bought by retail entrepreneurs Chris Griffin and Matt Purt three years ago, said Secret Sales attracted 40 million unique users to its platform last year, and that it has nine million registered account-holders.