Fast-growing mobile fashion marketplace Poshmark Inc. has raised $12 million to fuel its next growth spurt and better battle a lengthy list of competing startups also seeking to upend the fashion industry.
Since launching last year, the app has grown quickly because women can quickly take a photo of a piece of clothing and upload it to sell on Poshmark, says founder and CEO Manish Chandra. Poshmark says its users are adding items at a rate of $100 million per year in value of the items. In terms of engagement, the app has seen users use the app seven times per day for a total of 25 minutes per day.
Users Flock To Thriving Community Uploading Their Closets at a Rate of $100M a Year MENLO PARK, Calif., Dec. 4, 2012
Poshmark started out as an iPhone app on Apple Inc.’s App Store, but a full desktop, iPad and Android apps are coming soon. Chandra got the idea for Poshmark after seeing shopping bags full of clothes his wife was not wearing in the closet. Poshmark was founded in 2011 and raised $3.5 million in venture funding led by the Mayfield Fund.
While eBay and Craigslist have dominated the marketplace for exchanging consumer goods, many companies have recognized the large opportunity in the fashion vertical. Poshmark is the mobile version of the fashion marketplace. Users can list their items for sale and browse other users’ items — all within an iPhone app. I like the fact that everything is so easy and in app.