Purple Dot raises 4 million dollars

E-commerce startup Purple Dot has raised 4 million dollars in early-stage funding led by U.S.-based Unusual Ventures. The news was reported by TechCrunch. The U.K.-based company is a waitlist and pre-order platform that allows fashion brands to only produce the exact volume of goods ordered to reduce waste. Other investors in Purple Dot include Connect Ventures, Moxxie Ventures, and the family office of Indeed co-founder Paul Forster.

The company was founded in 2019 by Madeline Parra and John Talbott. The company claims they are the only platform of its type that allows companies to sell inventory earlier to maximize sales.

In a statement, Parra said, “By selling earlier, brands open up a whole new window to capture sales. The legacy mindset and technology assumes you need inventory in the warehouse to sell it. But with Purple Dot, you can always be selling because selling and shipping can be asynchronous. This is the “A-ha” moment for our brand partners. To get a sell-earlier strategy right, you need a dedicated approach that gets the customer experience, and internal tooling, right.”

In a statement, Rachel Starr of Unusual Ventures said, “Purple Dot is more than an e-commerce enabler; they are revolutionizing how supply chains are managed and how brands sell, and we believe that pre-orders and waitlists will shape the future of online shopping.”

CBInsights reported last year that fashion tech is one of the fastest-growing segments of the fashion industry. As sustainability is also a must now for the fashion industry, platforms like Purple Dot are big targets for investors.