High-Tech Gruenderfonds invests into fashion startup Rebelle

The online market place Rebelle, which was launched in August 2013, is a platform for second hand luxury and designer fashion. Rebelle will use the capital provided by the High-Tech Gruenderfonds (HTGF) to finance the further growth of the company.

Sales in the luxury products market are currently on an all-time high, amounting to revenue of € 212 bn. However, the luxury segment is not the only booming market. According to the German trade association, eCommerce is currently growing with a double-digit growth rate. Rebelle is making use of this trend by reinventing the idea of second hand. The combination of enabling individuals and second hand shops to sell their fashion online on the one hand and making luxury fashion affordable to more people on the other hand, makes Rebelle one of a kind. In addition to that, Rebelle differentiates itself from other marketplaces through its unique fulfillment process, in which the authenticity and condition of all products is validated by Rebelle.

“Rebelle’s team has developed a thought through process which allows the scaling of their business model at a low cost-per-unit. In addition Rebelle created a POS-solution, which allows second hand shop owners to offer their inventory online easily. This POS-solution, has the potential to give a whole industry, which until now has only acted offline, access to online distribution channels,” explains Marvin Andrä, Investment Manager at High-Tech Gruenderfonds, the decision to invest into Rebelle.

“Together with HTGF we now have a strong foundation, that allows us to quickly scale up our business model in a competitive market, thereby becoming the German leader for luxury online second hand fashion. We are already gaining great momentum because of a high customer acceptance”, say the enthusiastic Rebelle-founder Cécille Gaulke and her partner Max Schönemann.

StyleRemains GmbH, which was founded in spring 2013 by Cécile Gaulke, Max Schönemann and the Hamburg based company builder Hanse Ventures, runs Rebelle. Since August 19^th, Rebelle is online in Germany.

* Bain & Company, Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study, 11. Edition

About Rebelle
Rebelle.de is the new online platform for second hand fashion. It offers high-end and luxury fashion and accessories. Individuals as well as professional re-sellers can upload their designer products onto Rebelle and offer them for sale. With the concierge-service Rebelle offers customers an all-inclusive service for selling their products. It includes everything from professional picture editing and textual description to delivery. A team of experts validates the quality and authenticity of every single product proving a safe and trusting shopping-environment. Rebelle is run by StyleRemains GmbH. The young team of ten employees is located in the Hamburg Speicherstadt. CEOs are Sophie-Cécile Gaulke and Max Laurent Schönemann.

Contact:
StyleRemains GmbH
Block X, Brooktorkai 4
20457 Hamburg

Sandra Hartwig
Public Relations Manager
Phone: +49 (0) 40 30 70 19 15
Fax:     +49 (0) 40 30 70 19 29
presse@rebelle.de
www.rebelle.de

About High-Tech Gruenderfonds
High-Tech Gruenderfonds invests in young, high potential high-tech start-ups. The seed financing provided is designed to enable start-ups to take an idea through prototyping and to market launch. Typically, High-Tech Gruenderfonds invests EUR 500,000 in the seed stage, with the potential for up to a total of EUR 2 million per portfolio company in follow-on financing. Investors in this public/private partnership include the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, the KfW Banking Group, as well as strategic corporate investors including ALTANA, BASF, B. Braun, Robert Bosch, CEWE Color, Daimler, Deutsche Post DHL, Deutsche Telekom, Evonik, Lanxess, media + more venture Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, METRO, Qiagen, RWE Innogy, SAP, Tengelmann and Carl Zeiss. High-Tech Gruenderfonds has about EUR 573.5 million under management in two funds (EUR 272 million HTGF I, EUR 301.5 million HTGF II).

Contact:
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH
Schlegelstraße 2
53113 Bonn

Marvin D. Andrä
Investment Manager
phone +49 (228) 823 001-53
fax: +49 228 823 000-50
m.andrae@high-tech-gruenderfonds.de
www.high-tech-gruenderfonds.de