NEW YORK, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- JOOR, the first online wholesale marketplace for contemporary fashion brands and independent boutiques, announced today that it has raised $2.25 million. The Series A financing was led by Battery Ventures with participation from Lerer Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Landis Capital, Forerunner Ventures, William M. Smith and Richard Mishaan. JOOR will use the capital to expand internationally and rapidly accelerate the growth of its online network of boutiques, buyers and brands.
Endorsed by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, JOOR creates an efficient sales channel for retail buyers and brands. Fashion brands now have the ability to efficiently expand the global reach and scale of their wholesale sales teams in how they discover, communicate and transact with independent boutiques.
"While fashionistas have been some of the earliest adopters of the web, the underlying relationships between brands and boutiques remain stuck in the stone age of trade shows and fax machines," said Brian O'Malley, a Partner at Battery Ventures. "We're excited by JOOR's vision to build an online marketplace to the trade, opening new lines of communication and visibility previously unheard of in this industry."
JOOR is the only global marketplace that gives brands and boutiques the ability to transact, interact and make strategic buying and selling decisions. Since its launch in March 2010, JOOR has grown from working with 75 brands and 500 boutiques to over 250 brands and more than 7,500 boutiques.
"JOOR incorporates the best practices in social media and e-commerce and applies it to the wholesale world. Boutiques can do specific searches on multiple criteria including color and style across all fashion brands; and brands can better discover and transact with the right buyers," said Mona Bijoor, Founder & CEO of JOOR. "JOOR is part of a significant movement in fashion that recognizes the tremendous potential of digital platforms to increase profitability and efficiency."
About JOOR
JOOR is an online wholesale marketplace for the women's contemporary fashion industry created by Mona Bijoor, veteran fashion buyer and corporate strategist. JOOR's vision is to offer the search features and social networking functionality to the wholesale sector to streamline communication, discovery, and buying. Brands can feature their collections, prospect for new boutiques and manage all of their orders online. JOOR provides direct access to a brands' sales team and inventory availability so that boutiques have real time access to buying information. For more information, visit www.jooraccess.com or follow @JOORAccess on Twitter.
About Battery Ventures
Since 1983, Battery has been investing in technology and innovation worldwide. The firm partners with entrepreneurs and management teams across technology sectors, geographies and stages of a company's life, from start-up and expansion financing, to growth equity and buyouts. Battery's Internet & Digital Media portfolio currently includes: Angie's List, Bazaarvoice, BlueKai, BlueStem Brands, Digby, Exact Target, Gogobot, Groupon, H.Bloom, Hotel Tonight, j. Hilburn, Send the Trend and Viddy.
From offices in Boston, Silicon Valley and Israel, Battery manages $4B in committed capital, including its current fund of $750M. For more information, visit www.battery.com or follow us on Twitter @BatteryVentures.
SOURCE JOOR
WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?
Newsrooms &
Influencers
Digital Media
Outlets
Journalists
Opted In
Share this article