After what feels like a rather long time, Berlin-based handpicked design/furnishings retailer Monoqi has finally acquired the assets of the former online furniture marketplace MyDeco, which recently competed with the original Fab.com in the UK.
For the last few months, traffic to MyDeco has been redirected to furniture retailer Made.com (with which it shared backers including Brent Hoberman, founder and former chairman). But now MyDeco’s technology, customer database, supplier relationships, mailing lists and a few other assets will now be employed by Monoqi to grow its UK presence.
It’s likely that Monoqi’s business, especially the B2B side, will benefit from the links that Monoqi’s investor, Edward Shenderovich (of Kite Ventures) can bring via his other investments, Tradeshift and Merchantry, which are in relevant spaces for retailers.
Monoqi recently expanded into the UK market, so the acquisition will boost its presence, according to founder and CEO Simon Fabich. The Berlin-based company clearly thinks it has cracked the “curated design market” which the original Fab.com went for, but famously crashed out to a $15 million sale after burning through an eye-watering $150 million of investment.