FashionValet scores multi-million dollar series B from Japan’s leading fashion portal

Malaysia-based fashion ecommerce company FashionValet today announced it received a “multi-million dollar” funding from Start Today, the operator of Japan’s leading online fashion mall, Zozotown.

FashionValet stresses that Start Today’s entry is “clearly more than a financial investment.”

“Their experience in building Zozotown into the top fashion ecommerce portal in Japan will prove invaluable to FashionValet as we chart our next stage of growth around the region,” explains FashionValet co-founder and CEO Fadzarudin Anuar in a statement.

He says the startup will leverage its partnership with the Japanese investor in scaling its business in Southeast Asia.

“FashionValet has done an amazing job of developing high-demand brands and products from local designers. We feel there is a lot we can share with them with respect to back-end operations,” says Start Today’s chief finance officer Koji Yanagisawa. In 2014 alone, Start Today’s total revenue exceeded US$1.2 billion.

Founded in 2010 by Fadzarudin and his wife Vivy Yusof, FashionValet sells fashion apparel, shoes, and accessories from homegrown Malaysian brands as well as other brands across the region. The company is also present in Singapore and Indonesia.

Today, the company has over 500 Southeast Asian brands, with half from Malaysia and 180 originating from Indonesia. Even though it was founded in Malaysia, 40 percent of the company’s online sales come from international customers, proving its strong regional reach.

FashionValet opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Kuala Lumpur, and a second physical store is scheduled to open along Orchard Road in Singapore by mid-2016.

Start Today’s investment in FashionValet comes exactly a year after the startup’s series A round, led by Silicon Valley-based Elixir Capital.

In 2012, MYEG, one of Southeast Asia’s well-known publicly listed internet companies, also invested in FashionValet.

We’ve reached out to the FashionValet’s founders for more information about the company and the investment, and we will update this story when we hear back.