In promising news for the local retail startup, Fashion Project announced Friday it has raised a $7.2 million Series A.
Fashion Project, founded in Boston in 2012, sells donated, high-end clothing online, and shares the proceeds with a charity of the donor's choice. Charities that have partnered with the organization include the Greater Boston Food Bank, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Jimmy Fund and the Ellie Fund. The service also streamlines the donation process by making it easy for donors to ship their unwanted items; they've also partnered with Copley Place to trade donations for gift cards.
Investors in Fashion Project's recent round include second-hand clothing chain Second Time Around; Burch Creative Capital, the venture firm fronted by J. Christopher Burch, the Tory Burch founder who recently shuttered C. Wonder; Robert Hall of Vera Bradley; Simon Venture Group; RiverPark Ventures; Schooner Capital and Abundance Partners. The newfound financing brings the team's total amount raised to $19.5 million.
According to BetaBoston, the company plans to use the funding to hire new team members, expand their marketing and technology arms and outfit their brand new headquarters at Black Falcon Pier in the Innovation District — not too far from where they were formerly located on Melcher Street.
Fashion Project's latest partnership with Copley Place, where they're accepting donations in exchange for gift cards, lasts until Sunday, February 1, and they're soon launching a partnership with Zappos, which is tied in with three charities: Flying Kites, Give Kids the World and Kaboom.
