East Ventures co-leads $10m round of SG streetwear marketplace

Novelship, a Singapore-based marketplace for sneakers and streetwear, has raised US$10 million in a series A round co-led by GSR Ventures and East Ventures, with participation from K3 Ventures and iGlobe Partners.

Novelship team / Photo credit: Novelship

Founded by Richard Xia in 2018, Novelship specializes in limited-edition products from brands such as Nike, Air Jordan, Yeezy, and Supreme. It currently operates in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan.

In a statement, the company said that its sales volume surged by 5.3x last year. Novelship added that the current total market for sneakers and streetwear in Asia Pacific is around US$33 billion.

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The firm plans to use the fresh funding to enter more markets in Asia Pacific. After launching a crypto payment feature – which has resulted in US$200,000 worth of sales for its sneakers – it also aims to explore metaverse integration and brand partnerships in the retail space.

In 2019, Novelship secured US$2 million in a seed funding round led by Global Founders Capital.