AHAlife Raises $10.1M To Curate And Sell Hard-To-Find, Luxury Products From Around The World

AHAlife, an e-commerce site for hard-to-find and exclusive luxury lifestyle products, has raised $10.1 million in Series B funding, led by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, with DCM and FirstMark Capital also participating in the round. This brings the company’s total funding to $19.1 million.

As we wrote in our review of the site, AHAlife introduces one new product a day in editorial format through its email list, tells the story about how the product was made, who made it, and where it came from while allowing you to also purchase the product. Products span fashion, food, beauty, travel, accessories, home décor, tech, and travel experiences.

What makes the site compelling is the blend of content, commerce, and curation in AHAlife’s platform. Celebrity curators on the site include Tim Gunn, Wendi Murdoch, Donna Karan Daniel Boulud, Cynthia Rowley, and Tina Brown.

As founder and CEO, Shauna Mei tells us AHAlife’s focus is on helping luxury brands who have never gone online sell via e-commerce. In term of products sold on the site, she says the company is “Focuses on quality not quantity of items sold on the site and aims to help customers cut through the noise,”

The new funding will be used for global expansion, especially to Japan and other Asian markets, as well as building out the merchandising and technology teams.