Indochino raises $4 Million Series A Round led by Madrona
What do the Vancouver Whitecaps and Vancouver's Indochino have in common?
Both Vancouver upstarts are have former Yahoo president Jeff Mallett as an investor and both are now in the big leagues.
The Whitecaps made their successful Major League Soccer debut with a 4-2 victory over Canadian rival Toronto FC and this evening the Times Colonist reported that Indochino has raised $4 million in Series A financing led by Madrona Venture Group. With this round of funding, Indochino will invest in technology and product development and expand its executive team.
Techvibes has been following the now Vancouver-based e-commerce startup since it was founded in 2007 in Victoria by Chief Creative Officer Heikal Gani and CEO Kyle Vucko (pictured below with Jeff Mallett in center).
Indochino has expanded beyond its roots in men’s custom suits to offer a full line of men’s custom dresswear, including blazers, outerwear, dress shirts, slacks, and accessories. The company boasts 17,000 customers worldwide, had its first seven figure year in 2009 and grew sales 245% year-over-year in 2010.
As an investor Madrona brings expertise helping customer-centric online retail brands leverage technology to scale - they were an early investor in Amazon.com and Nordstrom.com. “There is an incredible amount of innovation in e-commerce right now, with startups leveraging new business models, acquisition channels, and platforms to disrupt incumbents and delight customers,” said Scott Jacobson, partner at Madrona Venture Group.
“One of the big, disruptive opportunities in apparel e-commerce is delivering clothes that fit, feel, and look great every time, guaranteed. Indochino’s unique approach to the problem, its commitment to continuous innovation on behalf of customers, and its capital-efficient business model attracted us to the company. We think they have an opportunity to be a disruptive force in online apparel, and we look forward to partnering with Kyle, Heikal and team to achieve their vision.”
This $4 million Series A financing includes participation from previous investor Burda Digital Ventures.
Photo: BusinessWeek
