HURR Raise $5.4m Seed Round Led By Octopus Ventures

UK high-fashion rental marketplace HURR announced their $5.4m seed round last week, led by London-based VC firm Octopus Ventures with participation from Ascension and D4 Ventures, among others.

HURR launched just two years ago with a hybrid business model. It combines a peer-to-peer fashion rental marketplace, direct partnerships with fashion outlets as well as a white-label service already boasting high-profile clients such as Selfridges Rental.

Their massive online growth helped HURR add 10,000 users during their first 6 months and expand into the physical world, with a boutique inside Selfridges London and a new dedicated concept pop-up store open until Christmas Eve.

HURR also partners with global resale platform Depop, which helps them find their clothes a “forever home” once they have gone through the rental cycle.

According to the Sunday Times, which called the raise a second-hand success story, this signals investors’ interest in sustainable fashion business models as a way to reduce the industry’s huge carbon footprint which, McKinsey researchers say, matches the total greenhouse gas emissions of France, Germany and Britain combined.

In the words of HURR Founder & CEO Victoria Prew, per the Financial Times: “renting clothing is a great way to reduce your footprint and make your clothing lifecycle entirely circular. Fewer young people want to buy fast fashion that will end up in landfill. They want to have fashion that makes them feel good and also lasts. So why not rent items you can wear for any day or event, not just occasion wear? The fact is, this is the future of fashion.”

Commenting on the funding round, Prew said: “As a millennial, I’m part of a generation that loves shared ownership. We’ve all witnessed the rise of disruptive tech-first businesses such as Airbnb and Uber and, if we can rent our houses and cars, why not our wardrobes.”

Matt Chandler, consumer investor at Octopus Ventures, said: “HURR is perfectly placed to capitalize on the shift towards new models of ownership and spearhead the transition to a more climate-friendly fashion industry.”