Modomoto acquires The Cloakroom

Curated online shopping service for men, The Cloakroom, has been acquired by German player Modomoto. Together the two online personal shopping services will form a new group known as the Curated Shopping Group. Terms of the acquisition, including the sale price, remain undisclosed.

The Cloakroom was founded in 2013 in Amsterdam by Danish duo Kasper Brandi Petersen and Asbjørn Jørgensen, who were inspired by the online personal shopping concept first launched in the US. After successfully entered the Dutch and Danish market, they expanded the online concept to Belgium, Sweden and the UK.

"Joining the Curated Shopping Group allows The Cloakroom expansion, and operational excellence, for whose construction we would have needed at least another two years alone to achieve," said Asbjørn Jørgensen in a statement. "We look forward to fully exploit the great opportunities that we see in this market."

Brandi Petersen and Jørgensen are set to join the management board of the Curated Shopping Group, together with Andreas Fischer, CEO of Modomoto and of the Group. Together the new group will see 250 employees serve over 300,000 customers in 7 markets, bringing in “tens of millions” in annual net-revenue in 2015.

The new company will continue to operate under its respective brands in their own markets, taking on competition from Outfittery as well as online heavy weight Zalando. "Curated shopping has a billion euro potential and our aim is to be the leading company in this market," said Andreas Fischer in a statement. "In curated shopping it is all about customer loyalty. We are outstanding in this field because we are the only vendor that is 100 percent focused on curated shopping."

"We not only have a great team of highly professional stylists, but we also have the entire value chain homemade, from the highly specialized software landscape to Europe sole, aimed at Curated Shopping logistics center. We can say confidently that our approach is superior in terms of the cost structure and the customer experience. We are probably the only Curated Shopping Service in Europe, which are profitable and can show three-digit growth rates."

Founded in 2011 in Berlin, Modomoto is active in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In the past the company raised capital through Connect Ventures, but the new group has received additional financial support from former Booking.com CEO Kees Koolen, who previously invested in the Cloakroom with Hein Pretorius. He will oversee the future of the new group as an investor and advisor.

"The Curated Shopping Group changed due to the changing customer needing a complete industry," said Koolen. "I am impressed by the exceptional growth and professional infrastructure, which has built the team with a relatively small investment."