Ssense Raises Money from Sequoia at $4.1 Billion Valuation, Eyes Chinese Market
Ssense co-founders Bassel Atallah, Firas Atallah, Rami Atallah. Ssense
Ssense said Tuesday that Sequoia Capital China has taken a minority investment in the company, valuing it at over 5 billion Canadian dollars ($4.1 billion), to fund a global expansion. It marks the first-ever external investment for the Montreal-based company, founded by chief executive officer Rami Atallah with his brothers, chief financial officer Firas Atallah and chief operating officer Bassel Atallah, in 2003.
As part of the investment, former Vogue China editor Angelica Cheung will join the board of directors. She joined Sequoia Capital China as a Venture Partner in February.
Ssense is known for its curated selection of brands and ambitious editorial strategy and younger audience, of which 80 percent are under 40 years old. The company, which declined to share revenue, in 2018 told BoF it aimed to cross the $1 billion revenue mark in 2020, buoyed by the rise of the streetwear-meets-luxury market it has targeted as its core aesthetic.
“Sequoia is excited to support Ssense in its continued global expansion and China acceleration,” said Neil Shen, founding and managing partner of Sequoia Capital China in a statement.
In recent years, its competitors Farfetch and Mytheresa went public to raise additional funding to battle for the luxury e-commerce market, where online retailers compete for brand partners and customers through speedy shipping, high-level customer service and editorial-style content. Ssense has opted for a curated approach today, underscored by its ambitious content strategy published by an editorial team led by 032c’s Joerg Koch. In 2018, Atallah told BoF the company had been profitable since its launch, backed only by family funding, with high double-digit growth average each year.
