Cairo-based online fashion rental platform La Reina has raised a six-figure seed investment (in USD) from 500 Startups, Algebra Ventures, and some other angel investors, the company said in a statement to MENAbytes. The exact size of the round was not disclosed. La Reina previously raised USD 1 million in a funding round led by Algebra Ventures in 2018.
The startup also announced the launch of its fashion subscription service for women, called The Box. The service enables customers to receive a box every week with two to three 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 (USD 45) every month to receive two used items every week. Those using the second tier, which is priced at EGP 1,499 (USD 95) per month, receive two to three new items every week. The subscribers of both the tiers receive new boxes upon returning the old ones. La Reina also charges a fee of EGP 19 on every delivery.
According to the statement, members can select the clothes on La Reina’s app or website based on their preferences and style. The startup said that it has partnered with fast fashion brands including Zara, Massimo Dutti, Mango, and Stradivarius to provide its members with their latest collections.
La Reina had started in 2016 with dress rentals, with some dresses in its collection carrying a retail price up to EGP 360,000, or USD 22,800. With rentals, the company is making these dresses accessible to a very large segment of users who wouldn’t have been able to afford them otherwise. The Box, however, targets a different segment. The company is trying to democratize day-to-day clothing rentals (for women), providing them with an alternative to purchasing these items.
Ghada Eltanawy, the co-founder and CEO of La Reina, said in a statement, “We wanted to create something that can help women in the corporate sector who are always on busy schedules. [We’ve done that] by offering them subscription-based services where they can receive a weekly box of joy and fashion delivered to their doorstep. We created The Box to offer practical shopping solutions for women who lead busy lives but are also keen on looking their absolute best every single day. We want our members to become versatile in how they dress up while also encouraging them to create a very minimal wardrobe.”
“Such an approach stresses on the importance of fashion sustainability. The Box helps decrease the fashion footprint by 85%, with each subscriber making it a game-changer that shapes the future of fashion and how we consume it,” she added.
La Reina said in a statement that it has over 100,000 users.
Sharif El-Badawi, the managing partner for 500 Startups (500 Falcons), said, “[Even] though COVID-19 has triggered seismic shifts in shopping behavior, we are impressed with how Ghada and her team have worked hard to quickly pivot its strategy to cope with this new era and keep the fashion clothing accessible to its customers. We are excited to support La Reina as they continue expanding their product offerings and forge ahead as pioneers in this fashion rental space.”
This article first appeared in MENAbytes.