Index Ventures Leads €10M Series C In Online Plus-Size Fashion Retailer, Navabi

Index Ventures has led a €10 million Series C round in navabi, an online retailer for plus-size fashion. Existing investors, which include Seventure Partners and Dumont Venture, also participated in the round. The German startup was founded back in 2007, and has raised some €13.5 million to date.

Navabi sells clothes from a range of designer fashion brands – including Anna Scholz, Manon Baptiste and Roberto Cavalli White – as well as its own label clothing, in sizes 12 to 28. This portion of the fashion market is apparently an expanding one as, presumably, more waistlines expand. Plus-size fashion has also been underserved by traditional retailers and brands, fuelling demand for navabi’s premium plus-size apparel approach.

The startup cites Mintel market research that suggests the addressable market is already a huge one, with an estimated 50%+ of the female population in Europe wearing plus-sized clothing. But more growth is forecast, with the segment predicted to grow faster than traditional apparel sales. Mintel is forecasting the U.K. market alone will grow to nearly £6 billion by 2015, up from £3.81 billion in 2008.

Navabi said the new funding will be used to maintain its “rapid growth rate” in Germany and to accelerate growth in the international markets it operates in – with particular focus (outside of its home market) planned for the U.K., U.S. and France.

Currently around a third (30%) of its €30 million revenue comes from the U.K. and the U.S. It added that its turnover is “more than doubling” year on year.

It is also planning to use the funding to push into a number of additional international markets in the next few years, and to “explore” other fashion categories, i.e. in addition to premium apparel, that might be of interest to its plus size customers.

Commenting on the funding round in a statement, Dominique Vidal, partner at Index, said: “We are excited to partner with navabi. They have built a very desirable loyal customer base. They are very well positioned to becoming the leader in this large underserved market, building an inspirational and aspirational brand in Europe and beyond.”