Fashion Cloud, which digitizes supply chain processes for the fashion wholesale sector, has closed a financing round with EUR25 million. The investment is led by European specialist growth equity investor Verdane with participation from existing investors such as HEARTLAND. Fashion Cloud Receives?25 Million Investment.
The company’s software solutions address the fragmentation and inefficiency of fashion wholesale, which covers 40% of Europe’s EUR500 billion fashion market. These solutions range from sharing marketing material and product data to digitally optimizing orders and inventory.
B2B data and content exchange portal for fashion wholesalers and retailers
Fashion Cloud is an all-in-one solution for content and data exchange as well as digital pre- and reorder in the fashion wholesale industry. Fashion Cloud also offers a range of smart software solutions that allow fashion companies to digitise their supply chain. For example, the company’s ‘Smart Replenishment’ automatically recommends replenishments to ensure that stores have the right quantity of products in stock at all times. In addition, Fashion Cloud prioritises transparency around sustainability by enabling brands to include certifications and standards on their platform.
This latest investment of EUR25 million will help Fashion Cloud continue its growth trajectory. The new investor, pan-European specialist growth equity investor Verdane, will bring its deep expertise in the B2B software business and its large international network to support Fashion Cloud in the future. Verdane will join Fashion Cloud’s existing investors, including Danish investor Heartland.
Transparency around sustainability
Increasingly, consumers want to know about the environmental impact of their purchases. They want to see a clear connection between brand image and sustainability, which means brands need to be transparent and offer granular insight into their operations.
The new funding from European specialist growth equity investor Verdane will enable Fashion Cloud to scale its technology and expand internationally so that brands and retailers can work seamlessly all over the world. It will also allow the Hamburg-based company to further develop its established features such as content and reorder portals, which enable retailers to access marketing material and product data from more than 600 brands while ordering articles with one click in the supplier’s brand shops.
The new investment will also enable Fashion Cloud to create an automated reorder system that can help retailers reduce inventory levels and optimize their order quantities. In addition, it will enable retailers to track their sustainability performance and promote their sustainability attributes in a clear way.
Digitization of the supply chain
Taking a digital approach to fashion wholesale is critical for efficient collaboration and trade. Commerce disruptions such as tariffs and global pandemics have catapulted concepts like supply chain risk, visibility and resilience to the forefront of business conversations.
One such solution is nearshoring, which allows retailers to manufacture garments close to consumers, eliminating the need for stock and reducing environmental impact. Using digital technologies, these smart hubs can also deliver inventory that is in line with consumer demand, which reduces the need for discounting and improves customer experience.
The Hamburg-based company, founded in 2015, has raised a new round of funding led by European specialist growth capital investor Verdane with participation from Heartland A/S. It will use the fresh capital to further develop its software solutions for content and data exchange as well as digital pre- and reorder, and speed up international expansion. It will also prioritize transparency around sustainability, enabling brands to share their sustainability attributes.
Personnel development
Fashion Cloud aims to use the new capital to optimize its service for online merchants and brands. It also wants to simplify the transmission of sustainability data and make it clearer for shoppers where products come from.
The startup has also developed a new model for eCommerce product data aligned with industry standards. This will help merchants to integrate more clearly structured data from brands into their online stores, such as season, fabric and care instructions, among other things.
The Dutch start-up Nyon is merging with Fashion Cloud, and both companies will operate under the same name. The merger strengthens the Fashion Cloud offering by bringing together its buying tool OrderWriter and its content exchange portal FashionExchange. Existing investors including HEARTLAND took part in the latest funding round. This is exactly where Fashion Cloud has its strengths needs read more hear.
