EGYPT – La Reina, an Egyptian online fashion rental service, has raised an undisclosed six-figure investment in a seed funding round which it will use to expand its team and launch a new fashion subscription service.
The funding follows a successful series A funding round concluded back in 2018 where the fashion startup raised US$1 million from a number of investors led by Algebra Ventures, Egypt’s largest venture capital fund.
Global VC 500 startups also participated in the 2018 series A funding. The two firms, Algebra Ventures and Global VC 500 are also reported to have participated in the new funding round.
Founded in 2016 by Ghada El-Tanawy and Amr Diab after they experienced their own problems getting hold of a bridal dress, La Reina allows women to rent their evening and bridal gowns to each other.
The startup caters for women standing on either side of a demand and supply equation, with designer dresses as their meeting point.
“We created The Box to offer practical shopping solutions for women who lead busy lives but are also keen on looking their absolute best every single day.”
Ghada El-Tanawy- Co-Founder, La Reina
He further noted that his startup’s desire was to enable their members become versatile in how they dress “while also encouraging them to create a very minimal wardrobe.”
The unique approach being advanced by La Reina stresses on the importance of fashion sustainability.
According to El-Tanawy, its solution, The Box helps decreasing the fashion footprint by 85 per cent with each subscriber making it a game-changer that shapes the future of fashion and how we consume it
According to a report by Disrupt Africa, La Reina, which has over 100,000 users, will use the undisclosed amount of funding to grow its team, and launch its fashion subscription service – The Box.
Available on La Reina’s mobile app and website, The Box partners with renowned fashion brands such as Zara, Massimo Dutti, Mango and Stradivarius to provide the members with the newest collection of clothes to be used and returned within a week.
“We are proud to have such prominent investors backing us. They are confident that La Reina has great potential as it forges along enhancing its offerings to become pioneers in the rental fashion space,” El-Tanawy said.
Sharif El-Badawi, managing partner for MENA at 500 Startups, said he had been impressed by how the La Reina team had pivoted its strategy to cope with the COVID-19 era and keep fashion clothing accessible to its customers.
“We are excited to support La Reina as they continue expanding their product offerings and forge ahead as pioneers in this fashion rental space,” he said.
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