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HURR raises $5.4m to expand fashion rental market

Jeremy Lim
13 December 2021

London-based fashion rental marketplace HURR has raised $5.4 million dollars in seed funding, further supporting its push for a circular economy in the fashion industry.

The seed funding is expected to be invested on further proprietary technology advancements, expansion of HURR's white-label partners, and community development.

The round was led by circular economy specialist and European VC firm, Octopus Ventures, which has backed other circular economy leaders including peer-to-peer resale platform Depop (acquired by Etsy for $1.6 billion), food-sharing app OLIO and toy subscription service Whirli among other undisclosed investors.

Victoria Prew, CEO and Founder of HURR said: "I am absolutely convinced that the future of fashion is circular, and we are proud to be at the forefront of this accelerating consumer shift . In the UK alone, customers spend £2.7bn on outfits they wear just once while more than $400bn of clothing is discarded across the globe each year – another shocking statistic.

"As a millennial, I’m part of a generation that loves shared ownership. We’ve all witnessed the rise of disruptive tech-first businesses such as Airbnb and Uber and if we can rent our houses and cars, why not our wardrobes. We are also delighted to welcome Octopus Ventures, D4, and Ascension on our journey. Their combined expertise in circular and building exceptional customer-focused businesses will be tremendous assets as we work towards our vision of re-inventing ownership."

Launched in 2019, HURR has built a hybrid business model to support a circular economy approaching through peer-to-peer fashion rentals, direct partnerships with more than 85 exclusive fashion partners and a white-label service which powers rental for leading retailers such as Selfridges Rental.

HURR also occupies a physical space in Selfridges London, and announced an industry-first partnership with global resale platform Depop this year.

Matt Chandler, Consumer Investor at Octopus Ventures, added: "HURR is perfectly placed to capitalise on the shift towards new models of ownership and spearhead the transition to a more climate-friendly fashion industry. By operating the critical logistics functions needed for rental, it is able to provide a full-stack rental solution to existing brands, which in turn feeds the HURR platform with amazing breadth and depth of supply.

"We see a huge opportunity for scale and are excited to leverage our experience working with Depop as we partner with Victoria and her team."

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