Sustainable e-shopping start-up Purple Dot raises new funding

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jan 3, 2022

E-commerce waitlist and pre-order platform Purple Dot has raised an additional €3.5 million in funding to “revolutionise how we buy and sell online”.

The new funding, led by Unusual Ventures, will be used to “further develop the product, scale the business, and hire new talent – bringing a new era of sustainability to online shopping”, Purple Dot said.

Founded in 2019 by Madeline Parra and John Talbott, the latest injection of cash adds the €1.49 million in funding the start-up received last year, eu-startups.com reported.

The London-based sustainability-focused retailer allows brands to sell products before they arrive in the warehouse via pre-sale and restock waitlists, claiming it can improve sell-through rates by up to 40%. 

Purple Dot also said the platform is designed to help retailers manage demand and reduce waste. Since the start of 2021, the business claims tens of thousands of items worth millions of dollars have been sold via its waitlists. Those using it include menswear direct-to-consumer label Spoke London, and US womenswear brand Lisa Says Gah. 

Parra said: “By selling earlier, brands open up a whole new window to capture sales. The legacy mindset and technology assumes you need inventory in the warehouse to sell it. But with Purple Dot, you can always be selling because selling and shipping can be asynchronous. This is the ‘A-ha’ moment for our brand partners. To get a sell-earlier strategy right, you need a dedicated approach that gets the customer experience, and internal tooling, right.”