RueLaLa: $25 Million for New Shopping Club

Following last summer’s 20% purchase of French Vente Privée by US investors, this past week saw Retail Convergence Inc., founder of the new shopping club RueLaLa, receive $25 M venture capital funding (press release):

" 'Brands are looking for innovative ways to reach consumers and consumers are demanding more engaging ways to shop online', stated Dennis Baldwin, Managing Partner of Breakaway Ventures and former Chief Marketing Officer of Reebok International."

"By providing an exciting new shopping experience while vigorously protecting the integrity of our partner brands, Retail Convergence will elevate the ecommerce experience for everyone."

Shopping clubs have recently taken on steam in the US.  Within a span of just a few months, RueLaLa is the fourth start-up in this area following Ideeli, Gilt Groupe and Hautelook.

The business model is also spreading in Europe.  Vente Privée, the undisputed market leader who set a 2008 revenue target of 500 M Euro, has already launched in Germany, Spain and Italy.  A British site is in preparation and a US start is planned for sometime after end of 2008.

You can find some background information in our posts about Gilt Groupe ("More Growth With Men's Designer Fashion") and Vente-Privée ("How Vente-Privée Manages Up To 30,000 Ordes Per Day")

Recently we wrote about the Best Private Shopping Clubs in France

Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, translated by Jason Soo.