HURR, the London-based fashion rental marketplace described as the ‘Airbnb for fashion,’ has raised £7.9m ($10m).
Praetura Ventures and existing investors, including Octopus Ventures, have led the investment round.
CEO Victoria Prew came up with the idea for HURR in 2017 when she realized the demand for fast fashion was bad news for sustainability.
Her solution was to encourage women to rent clothes instead of buying them, and Prew’s tech-first platform rapidly took an idea and made it into a movement.
Revealing the news on LinkedIn, Prew described the latest investment round as a ‘milestone’ she’d ‘remember for the rest of my life.’
Writing yesterday, she revealed: “Today we announce a strategic investment from Praetura Ventures – bringing our total funding to $10m.
“I’ve hardly had a chance to catch my breath before it’s been back to work!
“In one of the most challenging fundraising markets, I’ll be forever grateful to team HURR for holding the fort while this became my full-time job and for our new (and existing) investors for their belief in the HURR hybrid business model.
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“Combining our incredible peer-to-peer community while also powering rental for 130+ of your favorite fashion brands and the UK’s four biggest retailers.
“I am so unbelievably proud. We do what we do because HURR is the next big thing in fashion, and the time for a shift from ownership to access needs to happen ASAP.
“With 2 percent of VC funding going to female founders, Today we share this news so the next generation of entrepreneurs know that through sheer grit and determination, it can be possible.
“We’ll be announcing some pretty major plans in the coming months, but for now… it’s time to rest and take one minute to step back and recognize what we’ve been able to achieve.”
Praetura Ventures said they were delighted to add HURR to their growing portfolio of companies.
“Taking advantage of the demand among consumers to rent high fashion pieces, HURR is continuing to establish itself in fashion, with major partnerships with luxury brands such as NET-A-PORTER,” said a spokesman.
“The company’s founder, Victoria Prew, has raised $10m from ourselves and the company’s existing investors.
“We’re incredibly excited to be working with Victoria and being part of the latest chapter in HURR’s growth story.”
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In 2021, HURR raised £4m in a seed funding raise led by European VC firm Octopus Ventures, which has backed other circular economy leaders, including peer-to-peer resale platform Depop, food-sharing app OLIO, and toy subscription service Whirli.