Trouva secures 17 million pound investment to fund international growth

London-based retailer Trouva has received a 17 million pound investment to help fuel its international expansion.

The funding, led by Octopus Ventures alongside C4 Ventures, Downing Ventures, BGF and LocalGlobe, will help the company “further establish itself as the global destination for the best of independent retail” and comes as the online marketplace officially launches its German website.

Trouva also announced the appointment of Juliet Warkentin as chief marketing officer. She joins from Amazon Fashion and has previously worked as editor at Drapers and Marie Claire.

Commenting on the new investment in a statement, co-founder Mandeep Singh, said: “At Trouva, we envision a world where beautiful offline inventory is easily available to all. Over the last 12 months, we’ve taken important steps in achieving this by further extending our platform to the greatest independents across Europe and nearly doubling our network of retailers, with top boutiques achieving hundreds of thousands of pounds of sales through Trouva.com.

Trouva eyes international growth

“We will be using this latest investment to grow international demand and are excited to officially launch in Germany as we start to broaden our customer base and expand into new European markets. As we continue to scale rapidly, we will also continue to build a world-class team with this funding round. We’re thrilled to bring Juliet onboard as chief marketing officer with her experience developing and managing high-profile brands.”

Today, 40 percent of Trouva’s retailer network comprises bricks-and-mortar stores outside of the UK, across 12 European countries.

The company was named one of the five most exciting high-growth startups in the UK, according to Startups 100 Index 2019.

Co-founder Alex Loizou, said: “We’re excited to be taking one more step towards solving one of the biggest questions in retail today: ‘Where do you go if you are looking for inspiration, and you don’t know what you want?’. We believe that the incredible wealth of inventory coming from the master curators of the offline world is the answer to that question. We’re at the forefront of this transformation of retail, one powered by inspiration and discovery which unites the best of online and offline.”

Launched in London in 2015, Trouva began its international expansion last year with the launch of 20 boutiques in Berlin. It now offers in excess of 200,000 products from more than 800 independents in over 300 towns and cities, including Paris, Lisbon, Rome and Barcelona.

Photo credit: Trouva, Facebook