After two years of over 15% month-on-month sales growth, GRANA, an international direct-to-consumer eCommerce fashion e-tailer has just announced it is raising USD 10 million for its Series A round led by Alibaba Group under The Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund.
Other investors include Golden Gate Ventures, and Hong Kong-based MindWorks Ventures to support expansion plans in its highest growth market – the US and build out its product offering into new categories with sportswear, bags and accessories.
Following the Q1 announcement of its US $6 million in seed funding earlier this year, led by Golden Gate Ventures, MindWorks and Bluebell Group, the GRANA team will move into a new 18,000 square-foot centralised warehouse in Hong Kong this month.
Thanks to the new warehouse, the Hong Kong startup wants to manage business growth and plans to double its headcount to 100 employees by the end of 2017.
With the new round of funding, GRANA plans to expand its presence in the US, its largest international market through setting up its first pop-up showroom experience in New York for customers to try offline and buy online.
To help strengthen GRANA’s market reach in Asia, Alibaba is also partnering with GRANA for its market entry plan into mainland China.
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“GRANA has proved itself as an international eCommerce brand that uses a data driven approach to optimise its business offering and create an excellent customer experience”, said Ms Cindy Chow, Executive Director at The Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund.
Luke Grana, CEO & Founder at GRANA was recently named as one of the top Power Profiles on LinkedIn in Hong Kong. The fast-growing company currently ships directly to customers across 12 countries from its centralised warehouse in Hong Kong within 1-2 days.
GRANA clothing is known for its highly constructed no label wardrobe essentials, using the finest fabrics from around the world, and honest pricing.
Worldwide retail eCommerce sales is forecasted to reach US $3.6 trillion in 2019 according to eMarketer, reporting that Asia Pacific is projected to account for 41% of global retail eCommerce sales followed by 21% from North America.
To further drive Asia Pacific as a global eCommerce hub, its business strategy will focus on looking into new markets for shipping with its partner DHL and opening pop-up locations in key markets over the next 12 months.