A Russian impact venture fund with a separate focus on supporting female founders Zerno Ventures has bought a stake in handbag and accessories resale platform The Cultt. Proof of this are the changes in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, to which RB.RU drew attention.
According to the resource, Zerno Ventures JSC owns 14.68% of Kult LLC as of January 12, 2024. The fund confirmed to RB.RU the fact of the transaction.
“In December 2023, we closed a follow-up round, the transaction amount was up to $1 million. The second round will go to further expand the project. In general, we believe in the resale market, we actively observe it and we are willing to invest in other projects in this area,” they reported in the Zerno Ventures press service.
According to Anna Avtaikina, co-founder and director of business development at The Cultt, the funds raised will be used to further expand the project.
The company intends to spend the next six months perfecting the product, its versatility and convenience, as they see the project as a customer-centric business and want to satisfy all user needs.
Zerno Ventures already invested in The Cultt last year. Then the startup received its first investment in the amount of $300 thousand, money that was used to expand the offer, launch new directions, increase technology, IT development and marketing.
The Cultt was launched in 2020 by Anna Avtaikina, Daria Zosimenko, Maria Manaeva and Tatyana Ermakova. According to Kontur.Fokus, the authorized capital of the company now amounts to 11.7 thousand rubles, of which each of the founders owns 21.33%. Kult LLC’s revenue in 2022 amounted to 8 million rubles, the net loss was 4.9 million rubles.
Since March 2022, Russians cannot buy clothes, shoes and accessories in the usual way: popular brands have suspended their operations in Russia, and the United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on the import of luxury goods into the country. After this, the demand for resold items increases.
For example, sales of branded items on Avito in 2023 compared to 2022 increased by 57%. In July-September, sales of items from Balenciaga, Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel and Prada increased significantly.
At the same time, the most popular brands on the platform were the brands of the middle segment – Nike. The brand was a leader in four categories at once: accessories, women’s shoes, men’s clothing and men’s shoes. In second place by number of deals is Adidas, in third place is Zara, in fourth place is New Balance and in fifth place is H&M.
“2023 was a year of transformation for the resale market. Some players have left the market, others continue to actively grow and go offline, and marketplaces are growing the resale category internally. At TheCultt we have significantly increased the volume of our assortment, including through new categories and customer-sellers, which undoubtedly influences sales growth,” Avtaikina noted.
Such a rapid increase in interest in resold items, as noted by market participants to RB.RU, was caused by the suspension of activities of many foreign brands in Russia and the increase in prices for their products. Additionally, some people consider luxury items to be an investment comparable to investments in precious metals.
Author:
Karina Pardaeva
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
