Vietnam e-commerce site Leflair raises US$7 million Series B
Leflair, a Vietnamese e-commerce platform, has raised a US$7 million Series B round to invest in regional expansion and on-boarding new brands.
The investors were GS Shop and Belt Road Capital Management. GS Shop is a large Korean retail company that got its start as a television home shopping company. Belt Road Capital Management is a Cambodian private equity firm focussed on the Mekong region.
Today’s news marks the first investment in Vietnam by GS Shop.
The latest round comes about a year after Leflair raised a US$3 million Series A and it brings the startup’s total coffers to US$12 million.
“We started Leflair in Vietnam knowing that other markets with similar demographics are facing the same supply challenges. 2019 will be be the year of our regional expansion as we progress towards our mission of making the world’s best brands accessible to more consumers in Southeast-Asia,” said Loic Gautier the Co founder and CEO of Leflair in a statement.
The company claims to have grown by 100 per cent year-on-year since 2015.
It has over 1,500 brands on its platform and a quick check shows brands like Calvin Klein, Botanist and Moleskin.
LeFlair leveraged regional hubs in Hong Kong and Singapore to rapidly grow the number of brands on its platform. They also act as Leflair distribution centers, along with Vietnam. Gautier hinted at launching new hubs in Korea and Japan in the near future.
The company was founded Gautier and his co-founder Pierre-Antoine Brun, two french entrepreneurs who are currently living in Vietnam. The company is operated out of Ho Chi Minh City.