Maisonette has raised $30 million in Series B funding led by venture capital firm G Squared, with previous investors NEA and Thrive Capital also participating.
The startup, which bills itself as an expertly curated marketplace featuring global children’s products, says the new capital will be used to build a next-generation technology and data platform to enhance personalization for both customers and sellers, as well as to fund international expansion and scale the team. Additionally, the company will continue to expand the platform to more sellers in 2021 and invest in business development for new revenue streams.
Over the past four years, Maisonette positioned itself as “the destination for modern-day families of every kind, and sellers of all sizes.” It aims to aggregate the children’s products market with a relevant, online experience that enables people to shop across categories with guidance from an in-house team of category experts.
Maisonette CEO Sylvana Ward Durrett told Sourcing Journal in November that the she and co-founder Luisana Mendoza de Roccia created Maisonette out of a personal need.
“As mothers of multiples we were disappointed in the options available for our children, more specifically the lack of curated products within retailers that were needed for our kids who range in age,” Durrett said at the time.
The idea was to create a “one-stop shopping solution for busy parents who want stylish and high-quality products at every price point.”
The retailer’s category experts assuage the feeling of shopping in the middle of juggling multiple tasks by vetting all products and offering a unique voice and perspective on what is considered “best” in the market at different price points.
de Roccia, the president of Maisonette, takes inspiration in building the brand based on the growth of one of the most popular, yet still niche, brands in grocery.
“We are inspired by the trusted brand Whole Foods built and the lasting competitive advantage this created as it aggregated a highly fragmented industry. Customers delight in shopping for both food staples and new brands, knowing any choice will be a quality purchase because it was curated by Whole Foods,” de Roccia said in a statement. “Similarly, Maisonette is the modern-day, family brand aggregating the children’s market. Families trust our curation across thousands of products whether they come to us for a stroller, play clothes, or toys.”
The shift in spending to e-commerce in 2020 has benefited Maisonette, which says growth has nearly tripled during the past year. Today, it sells more than 900 children’s brands across multiple categories, including apparel and accessories, home furniture and decor, toys, gear and wellness.
More than 25,000 products are available on the site, with Maisonette procuring 1,400 new products each month.
In summer 2019, the company launched its own everyday basics private label, Maison Me, to address the $35 billion U.S. children’s apparel market. Maison Me has since become one of the marketplace’s fastest-growing brands, having debuted five seasonal collections as of November 2020.
“Our mission is to help modern families navigate the adventure of raising the next generation both through the products they buy and the content they consume,” Durrett said in a statement. “Millennial parents are the fastest growing group starting families, having children later in life, with more disposable income. More attention- and time-strapped than ever, they prioritize quality and trusted advice for what they value most in life, their children.”
Durrett and de Roccia have sought to grow the e-commerce brand by turning to execs who have already excelled in the digital space. The senior executive team at Maisonette includes alums from Walmart/Jet.com, Casper, Rent the Runway, Birchbox and healthcare collaboration technology company Pager.
Alongside the funding round, the company announced that Pierre Poignant, co-founder of Southeast Asian e-commerce marketplace Lazada and special assistant to the CEO and chairman of Alibaba, has joined Marissa Mayer as an independent board member.
“As consumers went online for more and more of their shopping needs over the last year, we saw demand for Amazon alternatives grow,” said Larry Aschebrook, managing partner, G Squared. “Maisonette was positioned well and responded quickly to the shift by offering merchandise that consumers sought—40 percent of which is exclusive to Maisonette or is hard to find elsewhere. Maisonette delivered a timely and robust platform that many retailers needed to reach a large, collective audience of shoppers online.”
Maisonette previously raised a $15 million Series A round in 2018, bringing the total raised to more than $50 million.
