Tech startup Trouva, a marketplace for independent shops, raises $10m
Tech startup Trouva, an website that provides independent shops with the ability to sell online, has raised fresh cash from investors.
BGF Ventures has led the $10m (£7.6m) series A, with Index Ventures, a previous backer of fashion firms Farfetch, Etsy and Asos, and Octopus Investments also participating.
Trouva acts as a marketplace for small businesses selling clothing, homeware and lifestyle items and currently has more than 350 sellers.
“We will be using the investment to further develop our unique platform at existing stores within the Trouva community, while funding expansion to new shops and boutiques across the UK, and ultimately further afield too,” said co-founder and chief executive Mandeep Singh.
BGF Ventures partner Harry Briggs said: "Everyone’s discovered a boutique somewhere that's full of things that feel made for their home.
"Trouva helps those boutiques reach more customers, and helps customers further-afield keep up with their favourite boutiques' latest ‘finds’. Discovery is so hard in homewares, and we believe that Trouva could help people across the world discover those unique, meaningful products that make home feel like home – while enabling the most extraordinary independent boutiques to not only survive, but thrive.”
Previous investors Robin Klein of LocalGlobe, Playfair Capital and Downing Ventures also backed the two-year-old firm.
Trouva also boasts early backing from angel investors such as Onefinestay co-founder Greg Marsh and Just Eat operating chief Adrian Blair.