Indie fashion site ModCloth has raised $19.8 million in Series B funding in a round led by Accel Partners, with participation from existing investors Floodgate and First Round Capital. As part of the deal Accel’s Theresia Gouw Ranzetta will join ModCloth’s Board, joining Mike Maples (Floodgate) and Josh Kopelman (First Round), along with ModCloth cofounders (and husband-and-wife) Eric and Susan Koger.
I sat down with the Kogers earlier this week to talk about ModCloth. For those that haven’t used the site before, it features a range of vintage-inspired clothing from indie designers. ModCloth handles distribution of the clothing itself, and cofounder Susan Koger chooses which clothing is incorporated into ModCloth’s selection. The company has been profitable since 2009.
ModCloth plans to use the money to expand its inventory and distribution capabilities (Eric Koger notes that the company’s biggest issue is that frequently sells out of some hot items). It also will be building out more social features, including a more robust voting mechanic that will allow users to help choose which design samples should make it to production (this already exists in an early form, but the company will be enhancing it so it can identify the members with the best taste, who could win employment offers and prizes).
Eric and Susan Koger started the company back in 2002 in a limited form, and expanded it after graduating from CMU in 2006. The company now has over 150 employees — a fact that would likely surprise many of the site’s customers given its indie roots. The company is opening a new office in San Francisco (which will serve as its headquarters) as well as a supply chain-oriented office in Los Angeles.
Here’s a video interview I did with the founders:
ModCloth.com is a rip-roaringly innovative, rapidly growing e-tailer of vintage-inspired fashion and decor that’s out to shake up the way fashion is discovered, developed, and delivered. Through groundbreaking technology and press-recognized social media, they’re creating a user-empowering platform that’s redefining the face of social commerce. Founded in a CMU dorm room by high school sweethearts Eric & Susan Koger, ModCloth now has over 370 employees and offices in San Francisco, LA, and Pittsburgh.
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