25th January 2018 – Nan Fung Group’s “The Mills Fabrica Fund” is excited to announce the completion of our first investment in leading techstyle social commerce platform Goxip.
Officially launched in December 2017, Fabrica Fund focuses on investing in and supporting the growth of techstyle startups (at the intersection of technology and style) that are either disrupting, creating or enabling 1] improvements in materials/ supply chains/ production processes, 2] new wearable products merging technology with design and 3] new models of retail such as in e-commerce.
To that end, Fabrica Fund is excited to have closed a $1M USD investment in leading social commerce platform Goxip’s latest Series A Round fundraising ($5M USD in total).
Goxip is an online social commerce platform which combines fashion and beauty products from different online retailers, targeting at fashion lovers and bloggers. Goxip allows users to search for similar products from its database using smartphone camera or online photos and to purchase those products right away through recommendations on Goxip’s platform. Specifically, it allows fashion and beauty lovers to buy similar items that celebrities or key opinion leaders (KOL) wore by identifying similar products/ brands and the corresponding online sales channels for users..
Goxip was previously a winner at RISE in 2015 and raised a $1.6M USD seed round from Ardent Capital, which became one of the Southeast Asia’s largest seed round fundraisings. Founder and CEO of Goxip, Juliette, is a dynamic techstyle entrepreneur with a successful track record in driving multi-million dollars sales growth at e-commerce platforms and running startup businesses successfully. All the companies she had worked for/ founded (uBuyiBuy, LivingSocial, Cdiscount) had achieved 10+ times sales growth in less than a year – in particular, she was involved in Cdiscount Thailand’s (part of CNova) $2.3Bn USD IPO (Nasdaq CNV) in November 2014.
“The launch of Fabrica Fund enables us to better support and accelerate the growth of leading techstyle startups in the world. We are excited at closing our first investment in Goxip whom we believe to have strong potential in expanding globally and in changing the retail model in fashion and beauty. We hope leading techstyle entrepreneurs like Juliette can continue to inspire other up-and-coming techstyle startups in the community, especially in Hong Kong.” said Vanessa Cheung, founder of The Mills.
“We are tremendously excited and honoured to be the first techstyle investment funded by The Mills Fabrica Fund. We are overjoyed to share the same visions with Vanessa and wanting to make Goxip a fashion and beauty Google – having shoppers search anything about fashion and beauty on Goxip and be able to shop from all the international retailers and brands around the world on a single platform. I truly believe that not only Goxip, but also other emerging techstyle startups and the fashion industry in Hong Kong will definitely benefit from The Mills’ massive support. With our coming expansion into Southeast Asia, we will continuously disrupt the fashion and beauty commerce space and keep growing into a fashion and beauty monster.” said Juliette Gimenez, CEO of Goxip.
Goxip plans to use the current investment to focus on further expanding their team in Hong Kong as well as to continue their expansion into Southeast Asia, particularly in Thailand. The company is targeting to double its 2017 GMV to achieve 100 millions HKD in sales for 2018 and to continue to inspire and build a new model of fashion and beauty commerce.
Since its official launch last month, Fabrica Fund has received over 30 different fundraising enquiries and is currently in process of evaluating other potential deals for investment. The investment platform would continue to source and invest in leading techstyle startups such as Goxip with the aim of pushing “techstyle” as a new model and accelerating the growth of techstyle innovations globally.
About Goxip
Goxip is an online shopping platform which combines fashion and beauty products from different online retailers, targeting at fashion lovers and bloggers. The Company partners with over 500 international online retailers including NET-A-PORTER, ASOS and Harrods, etc. With more than 36,000 luxury brands and 5 million items in Goxip’s database, online shoppers can easily search for their ideal products by text, categories and images.
About The Mills
The Mills is a landmark revitalization project by Nan Fung Group, a celebration of shared industrial legacy with Hong Kong, and a step towards a future of applied creativity and innovation.
Announced in 2014 by Nan Fung Group on its 60th anniversary, The Mills project will transform and revitalize the company’s former textile factory into a destination for innovation, culture, and learning. The Mills is composed of 3 pillars, each contributing a unique perspective and experience.
Fabrica – A business incubator and springboard for techstyle startups and strategic partners
Shopfloor – A landmark for experiential retail, an expression of Hong Kong’s evolving character
Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT) – A non-profit art centre interweaving textile arts, history and science
The Mills is targeted to open in 2018.
About The Mills Fabrica
The Mills Fabrica is a business incubator, fund and springboard for techstyle startups and strategic partners — companies at the intersection of technology and style. Fabrica is dedicated to establishing Hong Kong as the best place in the world to build a brand or technology business.
Fabrica Incubator takes onboard startups with great potential and puts them through an intensive program of self-improvement, practical business guidance, and marketing exposure. It will occupy the main floor in Fabrica’s workspace area at The Mills upon completion in 2018.
About The Mills Fabrica Fund
The Mills Fabrica Fund is a newly launched evergreen VC focused on investing in global techstyle startups. Fabrica Fund seeks to invest in leading techstyle entrepreneurs creating the techstyle model of the future.
The investment platform is set up as an evergreen VC backed by the Nan Fung Group and is also supported by The Mills Fabrica’s incubator and community. Investments will focus on global techstyle startups from seed to Series B (with investment amount ranging from $100K USD to $2M USD).
For media enquiries, please contact:
Alexander CHAN
The Mills Fabrica – Co-Director
Tel：+852 3979 2870
Email：alexander.chan@themills.com.hk
Ellie LEUNG
The Mills – Marketing Director
Tel：+852 3979 2322
Email：ellie.leung@themills.com.hk
Carmen CHOI
Goxip – Senior PR & Promotion Manager
Tel: +852 6100 5462
Email：carmen.choi@goxip.com