HURR raises $5.4 million to take fashion rental to the mass market

HURR set to capitalise on the growing consumer demand for sustainable fashion

13th of December 2021 – HURR, the fashion rental marketplace redefining ownership has today announced it has raised $5.4M in seed funding. The round was led by European VC firm, Octopus Ventures, which has backed other circular economy leaders including peer-to-peer resale platform Depop (acquired by Etsy for $1.6B), food sharing app OLIO, and toy subscription service Whirli. The round also saw participation from  D4 Ventures and Ascension, among others. 

HURR has led the rental revolution in the UK since launching in 2019. It has built a unique hybrid business model that comprises peer-to-peer fashion rentals, direct partnerships with more than 85 exclusive fashion partners, as well as a recently launched white-label service, which powers rental for leading retailers such as Selfridges Rental. HURR also occupies a physical space in Selfridges London, and this year announced an industry-first partnership with global resale platform Depop.

With HURR already delivering $2.5 million in annualised revenues, this latest investment will allow the business to scale-up significantly as it seeks to disrupt the $1.4 trillion global Women’s Fashion industry and capitalise on growing consumer momentum to embrace circular & sustainable fashion choices. The $5.4M of funding will support HURR’s plans to rapidly expand its operations, investing in its proprietary technology, elevating its focus on community, and expanding its white-label portfolio.

Victoria Prew, CEO and founder of HURR, said:

“I am absolutely convinced that the future of fashion is circular, and we are proud to be at the forefront of this accelerating consumer shift. In the UK alone, customers spend £2.7 billion on outfits they wear just once while more than $400 billion of clothing is discarded across the globe each year – another shocking statistic. 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.

“We are also delighted to welcome Octopus Ventures, D4, and Ascension on our journey. Their combined expertise in circular and building exceptional customer-focused businesses will be tremendous assets as we work towards our vision of re-inventing ownership.” 

Matt Chandler, consumer investor at Octopus Ventures, said:

“HURR is perfectly placed to capitalise on the shift towards new models of ownership and spearhead the transition to a more climate-friendly fashion industry. By operating the critical logistics functions needed for rental, it is able to provide a full-stack rental solution to existing brands, which in turn feeds the HURR platform with amazing breadth and depth of supply. We see a huge opportunity for scale and are excited to leverage our experience working with Depop as we partner with Victoria and her team.”

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About HURR 

HURR is the fashion marketplace changing the way we wear. Our mission is to reinvent ownership by providing all the short-cuts to a sustainable wardrobe through renting, monthly refreshes or purchasing pre-owned clothing. We empower our community to extend the lifespan of clothes and to look good doing it. We’re one of the world’s “Top 50 retail-tech startups”, proving the answer to sustainable fashion is nothing new. We offer access to the latest brands, fashion trends and hero pieces with more than 85 designer partners and have built proprietary technology and partnered with a state-of-the-art wet-cleaning operation to power the new circular economy.

www.hurr.com 

About Octopus Ventures

For the people and ideas that will change the world, because we believe you can build a better tomorrow by investing in it. We can back you at every stage of your journey, from ideas on a page through to IPO. Each year we deploy more than £200 million across five areas where we see maximum potential for impact: health, fintech, deep tech, consumer and B2B software. With many years of experience investing in each of these areas, our team has the expertise and network to help portfolio companies scale at speed. For us, investment is about more than money. Being truly invested is about giving time, energy and focus; working with founders to give them the best chance of success, in the good times and the bad. It means a shared commitment to solving the big problems that matter. We’ve backed the likes of BoughtByMany, Cazoo, Depop, Elvie and WaveOptics, and many more. We are based in London and New York with a network of partners across the U.S and Asia.