Amidst layoffs, and shortly following a new $150 million round in new funding, Fab is announcing an additional contribution to its Series D round of financing. Singaporean telecommunications giant SingTel Group has put $10 million into Fab, and according to the design-focused ecommerce company, the Asian company will will be a key partner wIn helping Fab explore expansion opportunities in Asia.
CEO and co-founder Jason Goldberg explains that SingTel will be instrumental in helping Fab expand to Asian markets. He writes: SingTel has a lot in common with Fab – they serve a growing, young, and sophisticated population of consumers who are looking for lifestyle products to reflect their optimistic, dynamic and vibrant approach to life. That matches well with the predominantly 25-45-year-olds who come to Fab to browse and buy unique and compelling items they’ll live with in their homes, wear, and gift.
He also addressed some of the changes taking place at the company, namely the layoffs and ditching the flash sales model: Most importantly, we announced the centralization of our operations at our New York headquarters, underscoring our shift from a flash sales model to more of a comprehensive global online lifestyle shop. We have momentum, we have growth, we have a solid team in place, and we have millions of customers worldwide that we want to continue to fall in love with Fab.
Fab, which was valued at $1 billion in this round, is going to be raising around $100 million more as part of its Series D (Goldberg said in tonight’s post that more Series D investors will be announced in the future and he will share the news as it happens).
Part of this new financing is going towards Fab’s next pivot as an international design powerhouse. In May, Fab debuted its new design store, which makes it more of an integrated e-commerce site. The company is also experimenting with brick and mortar stores.
As we’ve said in the past, international is a huge potential growth area for the company, particularly in Asia. Tencent and Itochu invested in the first part of the Series D and it comes of no surprise that additional money is coming from Asian investors as well.
In the past, Fab has been expanding via acquisitions as well so it should be interesting to see if the company scoops up an startups in Asia for its big push into the region. Stay tuned.