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Resale start-up Archive secures $8 million in new funding

Jeremy Lim
27 January 2022

Archive, a resale technology company that builds customised resale marketplaces for brands, has secured an $8 million funding to lead the industry's next phase of resale.

Co-founded by Emily Gittins and Ryan Rowe, the tech company offers a complete "operating system" for brands to power their own resale platforms, allowing consumers to buy and sell secondhand styles directly from the integrated e-commerce site.

The latest financing will fuel the company's growth by accelerating the development of new custom integrations, adding physical touch points to the customer's journey, providing warehouse solutions for bulk inventory, and scaling the engineering and operations teams.

The round was co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Bain Capital Ventures, bringing Archive's total funding to nearly $10 million. Additional participants include industry leaders such as Alex Bolen, CEO of Oscar de la Renta, Shan Lyn-Ma, Co-founder of Zola, Dawn Dobras, former CEO of Credo Beauty, designer Steven Alan, and Marigay McKee, former President of Saks Fifth Avenue.

The financing follows initial investments from FirstMark, Bain Capital Ventures, and the founders of Warby Parker, Allbirds and Harry's.

Sarah Smith, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures, said: "The secondhand fashion retail market is exploding and is currently estimated at $130 billion globally. It is inevitable that brands will own their resale market to attract a new segment of customers, promote sustainability, drive customer loyalty, and take control of the experience. The team at Archive is disrupting how resale works today. They have built the superior technology solution while having empathy for the unique needs of each brand as they launch this new business line."

Since its launch in February 2021, Archive has powered the resale debuts for fashion brands including Dagne Dover (Almost Vintage), Filippa K. (Preowned), M.M.LaFleur (Second Act), The North Face (Renewed Marketplace), and luxury fashion house Oscar de la Renta (Encore). Each resale site aims to reflect the company's unique brand story and creative vision, allowing customers to shop both new and secondhand products seamlessly on their website.

Alex Bolen, Chief Executive Officer of Oscar de la Renta said: "We believe that resale will be a key driver for both acquisition and retention of our customers for the foreseeable future. As such, developing a robust resale experience that is consistent with the existing world of Oscar de la Renta has been a strategic imperative.

"We've achieved this goal with Encore by Oscar de la Renta by utilizing both Archive's superior technology and the 'can-do' approach of Emily and the Archive team. Their solutions, including auction functionality and charitable donation optionality, provide Oscar de la Renta with a unique customer offering. We look forward to building on our already strong partnership with Archive."

Ryan Rowe, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Archive, added: "Producing high-quality products and integrating secondhand into the shopping experience is the only way for retailers to truly be more sustainable. It's been exciting to watch our partners introduce resale and we're looking forward to making it the industry standard."

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