With An Aim To Revolutionise The Egyptian Fashion Industry, Cairo Based La Reina Bags USD 1 Mn funding
La Reina, a Cairo based fashion tech startup that allows women to rent out their evening and bridal gowns to each other has secured USD 1 Mn in a funding round.
Participating in the funding round were Algebra Ventures, USD 50 Mn VC fund based in Cairo and 500 Startups. The startup had in December 2016 raised an undisclosed amount in non-equity assistance.
Founded by Ghada El-Tanawy and Amr Diab in 2016, the startup allows women who may not be able to afford expensive designer gowns rent them at 10-15% of the retail price while their owners make money from the dresses. Gown owners reportedly earn up to USD 200K. Along with its two physical stores that women can visit for fittings, the startup delivers dresses to its customers based in Cairo and Alexandria.
Prospective customers visit their site and browse from La Reina’s designer dresses closet using its filters of sizes, color, occasion and design specification. Once selected and paid for, the item is delivered or clients visit one of its fitting locations to get help from in-house fashion stylist. The company charges between 30% to 50% on rented dresses. Women can also log in and submit pictures of their dresses and once it is rented they get paid.
Stakeholders are tipping the startup to be a game changer in the way Egyptians consume fashion. The startup is expected to utilize the funds to grow its team, which will be drawn from the local market talent pool. It hopes that this will in turn boost the local economy and stand as a transformative business model.
Its other priority is to increase its collection of dresses, currently in hundreds to 5000 by January 2019. With this, La Reina aims to grow its revenue to USD 453K (EGP 8 Mn.
500 startups has been active in the region and has funded other startups like Shezlong and Harmonica recently.
