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HK online clothing retailer Grana secures additional USD3.5m in seed funding

Hong Kong-based online clothing retailer Grana said on Tuesday that it has secured an additional USD3.5 million in seed funding, bringing the total funding to USD6m. The round was led by Singapore-based Golden Gate Ventures, with participation from MindWorks Ventures and Bluebell Group.

Founded in 2014, the online retailer sells luxury clothing at affordable prices. It designs its merchandise in-house and works directly with fabric mills, cutting traditional middlemen costs.

Grana recently launched in the US market, and the additional funding will help the brand continue its international growth and expansion.

The fashion brand has grown extensively since its March 2014 beta launch, during which the brand sold 2,000 Peruvian Pima Cotton T-shirts in three weeks, shipping to eight countries directly from Hong Kong. Month-over-month sales are currently increasing by 40 percent since Grana launched in October of 2014.

The new round of funding will expand Grana’s shipping to new markets as well as aid the entry into the US and China markets. The funds will play a critical role in new product category launches such as leather goods, undergarments and activewear.

“We’re pleased to receive financial backing from Golden Gate Ventures and MindWorks Ventures,” said Luke Grana, CEO and co-founder of Grana. “The support is critical to our US expansion, a priority market that already represents 20 percent of our global sales. This new investment allows us to further disrupt the online clothing market and provide consumers with luxury-quality wardrobe essentials without the luxury price point.”

Since launching, Grana has brought a number of “Fitting Rooms” to consumers across Sydney, Singapore, and Hong Kong, and mostly recently opened a US location in San Francisco in December 2015. The new funding will also allow Grana to open additional Fitting Room locations in the US and provide support for a technological upgrade to the shops, reinventing the way people buy clothes in-store.

“In a world where startups are disrupting established industries, Grana is disrupting how to build a global brand with bottom-up marketing from their biggest fans, city by city,” said Vinnie Lauria, Managing Partner at Golden Gate Ventures.

“We envision Grana’s model of providing the highest-quality modern essentials at revolutionary price points as the future of retail,” said David Chang, Partner at MindWorks Ventures. “This investment round provides Grana with greater capacity to expand its growing Fitting Room network, and product range and develop its omnichannel strategy.”

Currently, Grana has more than 40 employees in Hong Kong, and most recently has added team members in San Francisco. With the newly acquired funds, the fashion retailer will build out a global team to fuel its international expansion and growth in existing markets.

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