Cairo-based online fashion rental platform La Reina has raised a six-figure (USD) ‘seed investment’ from 500 Startups, Algebra Ventures, and some other angel investors, it announced in a statement to MENAbytes today. The exact size of the round was not disclosed. La Reina had previously raised $1 million in a funding round led by Algebra Ventures in 2018.
The startup has also announced the launch of its fashion subscription service ‘The Box’ for women. The service that apparently has been available for a few months at least, enables customers to receive a box every week with 2-3 new or used (but dry cleaned and sanitized) day-to-day clothing items for a fixed monthly fee.
The subscribers that sign up for the basic tier pay EGP 699 ($45) every month for receiving 2 used items every week. Those using the second tier which is priced at EGP 1,499 ($95) per month receive 2-3 new items every week. The subscribers of both the tiers receive new boxes upon returning the old ones. La Reina also charges a delivery fee of EGP 19 on every delivery ($1.2).
According to the statement, the members can select the clothes on La Reina app or website based on their preferences and style. The startup said that it has partnered with different fast fashion brands including Zara, Massimo Dutti, Mango, Stradivarius to provide its members with the latest collection of these brands.
La Reina had started in 2016 with dress rentals with some dresses in its collection being as expensive as EGP 360,000 or $22,800 (retail price). So what it was trying to do with rentals is make these dresses accessible to a very large segment of users who wouldn’t have been able to afford them otherwise. The Box, however, it seems, is going after a different segment. It is trying to democratize the idea of renting day-to-day clothes (for women) providing them an alternative to purchasing them.
La Reina in a statement said that it has over 100,000 users without sharing further details about the number.
South Africa Today
Read more at VolaNews
