Fashion shopping app Lyst raises $85m in pre-IPO round

Online premium fashion platform, Lyst, has announced an $85 million fundraising backed by the likes of Fidelity International and C4 Ventures.

The valuation at which Lyst is raising the money is unclear, but sources told Sky News it would be positioned as a pre-IPO round, with public flotation possibly taking place in the next year.

The company counts Draper Esprit, Accel and Balderton Capital among its existing backers.

LVMH acquired a stake in the business six years ago and invested further in 2018.

Established in 2010 from a shed in Shoreditch, London, Lyst’s journey began when founders Chris Morton and Seb Trepca set out to create a way for people to find the fashion they always wanted.

It now lays claim to being the largest global fashion search platform, bringing together five million products from 12,000 brands and retailers in one place.

Last year over 70 million shoppers from 120 countries chose to start their search on Lyst.

Morton says: “While our app and website already enjoy very large audiences in the USA and Europe, fashion e-commerce remains under-penetrated in general, with huge growth potential globally.”

The raise, he adds, will be used “to continue personalising the fashion shopping experience to each of our millions of customers”.

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Funding roundsStaff WriterLyst, Fashion e-commerce, Startups, Funding rounds, E-commerce, Online retailComment