Dresst, a digital e-commerce company specializing in monthly high-end fashion rentals, has raised a $525,000 seed round, and is reporting a current valuation of $2.65 million.
“We’re creating an entirely new shopping behaviour in the Canadian market.”
– Kelly Pigeon, Dresst
The fund was raised by Jeff Smith, recently retired global chief transformation officer at Johnson & Johnson in the US, as well as former president of the company’s Canadian operations. Dresst also received investments from Gemini Waghmare, who sold UXP Systems for $80 million in October, Jay Deen, formerly of UXP, and Kavi Maharajh, who co-founded Quickplay.
“It’s incredibly motivating when people you admire place a serious bet on you, and your business,” Kelly Pigeon, CEO and co-founder of Dresst, told BetaKit. “Our investors are also deeply strategic partners, particularly as we build out the technology platform for this direct-to-consumer online business.”
Dresst offers a monthly rental box that allows users to refresh their closet each month. Each box includes three pieces of clothing for 30 days, free shipping both ways, and free dry cleaning and laundry services. The company was launched in March by Pigeon and CMO Laura Bryce, with a goal of helping people who have thousands of items of clothing, yet still, find themselves with “nothing to wear.”
The company was born out of the co-founders realizing they were spending upwards of $4,000 a year on clothing, despite having 400 different items. Dresst aims to allow users to wear 120 new pieces across more than three years. The company offers a selection of items from upscale designers with an average retail price between $200 and $300 per item, valuing the monthly price of rented clothes at between $700 and $900, with Dresst setting its price per box at $99. The e-commerce startup’s platform is powered by Shopify, which recently introduced a host of new features at its 2019 Shopify Unite conference in Toronto.
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“Investing to drive awareness… is critical since we’re creating an entirely new shopping behaviour in the Canadian market,” Pigeon said. “Enhancing our online experience is key to our success. We are creating the ultimate shopping experience for women and this will be done through personalization and customization. We’ll be leveraging our data to deliver highly personalized style recommendations to each and every customer.”
The funds will be used to build out Dresst’s virtual closet with more variety, drive customer acquisition, and enhance the online customer experience. The platform currently has about 100 styles and Pigeon said it is adding 20 to 25 new pieces every month. It will also be launching a popup in Toronto’s Stakt market August 13 to 19.
Image courtesy Dresst