Flash sale site Vente-Privee.com has announced an €80m investment in its innovation, research and development teams and the establishment of an accelerator programme for fashion, tech and retail start-ups.
The investment will lead to the realisation of three projects from its Paris HQ. First it will establish two in-house innovation labs and create an additional 250 jobs to expand its IT teams.
In addition, and in partnership with the world’s largest start-up campus, Station F, based in Paris, Vente-Privee.com will establish an accelerator programme for 20 start-ups in the fields of fashion, technology and retail.
It is currently inviting applications from young businesses across Europe (including the UK) via stationf.co. The brand’s aim is to support start-ups who “imagine solutions and services that aim to enrich, optimise and transform consumers’ online experience in the online fashion retail sector.”
“In this digital age, where competition is no longer between big and small players, but between slow and fast ones, we place innovation and tech at the heart of our growth strategy,” said Jacques-Antoine Granjon, Vente-Privee.com co-founder. “We have shaken up some retail codes in our sector and in fashion – which is at the heart of our identity – and we want to pursue this constant transformation.”
Sally Scott: unique opportunity for UK entrepreneurs
Sally Scott, Vente-Privee.com UK Managing Director added: “This investment presents a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs in the UK, to not only access our support and mentorship, but to be part of a growing and exciting community at the world’s biggest start-up campus in Paris.
“Our business has been an online pioneer, growing year-on-year by not only getting the product offer right, but the online experience too. We see great potential for growth in the UK on the back of this investment in innovation, and by continuing to support and champion the developments in our sector,” Scott added.
Vente-Privee was founded in 2001 and now has 4.5m daily visitors to its site, which offers time-limited sales of discounted brands in the fashion, home, technology and lifestyle sectors.
It has recently been on something of an acquisistion spree, in April of last year it announced it had acquired Spanish site Privalia and a majority stake in Swiss firm Eboutic.ch. In September it acquired a controlling stake in Belgium’s vente-exclusive.com.
