Temasek invests in fashion site

Singapore investment company Temasek has joined IDG Capital Partners and Eurazeo as new contributors to a US$110 million Series F investment round for international fashion website Farfetch.

Also leading the funding round was existing investor Vitruvian Partners.

A proportion of the cash injection will be used to consolidate the company’s leadership position in China, Farfetch’s second-largest market, as well as Japan and other Asia Pacific countries.

Primarily the fund will be used to expand the company’s proprietary technology platform and establish it as a leading omni-channel platform for both boutiques and brand globally.

Advised by Qatalyst Partners, the round follows Farfetch’s transaction value shooting up more than 70 per cent last year to bypass $500 million.

“We are particularly excited about the growth of Farfetch in China, where we hope to help them achieve even greater success,” says IDG Capital partner Alexandre Quirici.

China represents 12 per cent of the company’s sales, with APAC collectively representing a further 14 per cent. The new strategic investors will provide insights, networking and support, driving continued growth in these markets.

“The vision for Farfetch was always to seamlessly integrate physical retail with digital platforms, which we have been doing since 2008, starting with boutiques and 12 months ago adding brands to our global platform,” says Farfetch founder/CEO Jose Neves.

“This investment comes after strong inbound interest from investors, some of which we feel can really help in our largest and fastest-growing markets.”

Significant developments over the past year include expanding the Farfetch site’s roster of retail partners to include direct contracts with brands (more than 75 global brands now sell through the platform); acquiring London-based boutique Browns in order to create a retail-tech incubator in which to develop innovative customer experiences; and developing Farfetch Black & White, the white-label platform that launched its first client site, ManoloBlahnik.com, last month.

Farfetch brings together products from more than 400 independent designer boutiques and global brands from more than 37 countries. Founded by Portuguese entrepreneur Jose Neves, the site is now available in nine languages servicing more than 190 countries.

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