Global E-Commerce Site Farfetch Raises $66m Led by Vitruvian Partners, Including Investment From Condé Nast International and Advent Ventures

LONDON, May 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Investment used to fuel the company's international growth and omni-channel strategy. 

Vitruvian Partners, a private equity firm focused on investing in 'dynamic situations', has led a $66m Series D round of investment in Farfetch, the global e-commerce site for independent boutiques; announced today by Farfetch founder and CEO José Neves. Farfetch's existing investors Condé Nast International and Advent Ventures also participated in the round, alongside new investor Richard Chen, Venture Partner at Chinese VC firm Ceyuan.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140501/684321 )

Mike Risman, Managing Partner of Vitruvian Partners said: "The Farfetch platform enables, the world's leading fashion boutiques to present the largest range of premium luxury brands and carefully curated products available in the market today. With an international omni-channel service capability and excellent product availability on coveted fashion items, Farfetch's ability to serve the luxury consumer is unique. The growth of Farfetch, and the brands and boutiques it serves, has been very impressive as a result. We are delighted to have this opportunity to partner with a first-class entrepreneurial team and investor group. We trust that our investment will give Farfetch a very strong financial platform for its development plans."

The equity will be used to continue Farfetch's rapid growth, through building out the company's global presence, further investment in technology and to develop the organization's unique omni-channel offering.  

With annual sales of $275 million and year-on-year growth of 100%, a network of 300 global boutiques with over 1,000 outlets offering 105,000 highly curated products from the world's best luxury labels, Farfetch is in a powerful position to expand its global footprint.

José Neves, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Farfetch, remarked: "This round of investment will help fuel a number of our key strategic goals including facilitating our omni-channel proposition, escalating the development of local language sites for key new markets (Russia, Japan, China) and accelerating engineering developments to help facilitate a dynamic responsive experience."

NOTES TO EDITORS 

About Farfetch 

Farfetch is a revolutionary way to buy fashion. The pioneering website brings together more than 300 of the world's best independent designer boutiques, from Paris, New York and Milan to Bucharest, Helsinki and Honolulu, allowing customers to shop an unparalleled range of labels and pieces. 

Founded in 2008 by the Portuguese entrepreneur José Neves, Farfetch offers independent bricks-and-mortar boutiques the opportunity to compete with the major players in online retail. 

About Vitruvian Partners ("Vitruvian") 

Vitruvian is an independent private equity firm which specializes in middle‐market buyouts, growth buyouts and growth capital investments in Europe. Vitruvian focuses on investing in 'dynamic situations' in industries characterized by rapid growth and change, such as information technology, media, telecoms, financial services, business services, healthcare and leisure. Vitruvian is currently investing VIP II, its recently raised second fund of £1 billion. Its previous investments in the technology and internet sectors include Just Eat, Flexpay, Snow Software, Callcredit Information Group, Inspired Gaming, Openbet, and IMD. Vitruvian has offices in London, Munich and Stockholm.

About Advent Ventures Partners 

Advent Venture Partners is one of Europe's most successful venture capital investors with a track-record of partnering with the most ambitious entrepreneurs building tech-driven businesses. We invest in high-growth highly differentiated businesses led by exceptional entrepreneurs, in areas where we have both expertise and high conviction. Recent successes include the sale of Zong to ebay, the sale of Qype to Yelp, the sale of Vitrue to Oracle, the sale of Dailymotion to Orange, and the sale of Ubiquisys to Cisco.

About Condé Nast International (CNI) 

Condé Nast International (CNI), a division of Advance Publications, sets the benchmark for multimedia publishing excellence. CNI currently operates in 27 markets, publishing 126 magazines, close to 100 websites and over 200 tablet and Smartphone apps, under such respected brands as Vogue, GQ, Glamour, Wired, Condé Nast Traveller, AD and Vanity Fair. Recent launches include Vanity Fair in France, Condé Nast Traveler in China and the Middle East, Vogue in Thailand, Ukraine and The Netherlands, GQ in Turkey, Glamour in Brazil, AD in India and Allure in Russia. CNI continues to expand beyond its traditional publishing domain, through activities which include: global events such as Vogue Fashion's Night Out, GQ Men of the Year and Glamour Women of the Year; Wired events and consultancy services; The Vogue Wedding Show; CNI Restaurants and the Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design which recently opened in London.

Richard Chen 

Richard Chen has worked in several well-known global investment firms and has over 16 years' experience in investment and fund management in New York and Mainland China. In the past ten years, he has made investments in a number of influential projects covering media, consumer and logistics.  Richard holds Partner and CEO titles in several investment companies including Ceyuan, a Beijing-based early stage venture capital firm focused on IT and emerging growth companies. Their emphasis is on backing great teams, technology and business innovation, with a mission to assist entrepreneurs in creating and building world-class businesses.

For all press enquiries please contact:

Rest of World Enquiries:
Sameera Hassan, Director of PR and Communications
sameera.hassan@farfetch.com

U.S. Enquiries:
Gabrielle Depapp, SVP Brand Development, North America
gabrielle.depapp@farfetch.com

http://www.farfetch.com    @farfetch