SanomaVentures invests in Vault79.com

SanomaVentures is investing cash, media, know-how and network in Vault79.com, providing support to the national and international ambitions of the promising luxury fashion auction website. Each day, the website offers a new selection of exclusive designer fashion items and accessories from top brands such as Chloé, Mulberry, Fendi, Céline and Marc Jacobs. Vault79.com is the first investment by SanomaVentures, a company founded in 2012.

Since the launch of Vault79.com in December 2011, the website has managed to garner a considerable group of fans. The auctioned items are initially offered at a low price, after which Vault79 members can bid on the designer items online, thus determining the price themselves. Following a successful partnership with Grazia, Sanoma Media’s popular fashion glossy, discussions started about a strategic cooperation.

Michiel Muller, one of Vault79’s initiators: “The partnership with Sanoma provides us with a fantastic platform for launching Vault79’s further growth. Our concept and Sanoma’s reach and knowledge really serve to reinforce one another.”
Herman Kienhuis, Investment Director at SanomaVentures: “Vault79.com takes a new, dynamic approach to mining the potential of the high-growth e-commerce market for fashion. The experienced team, the results achieved during the start-up phase and the international potential make this an extremely interesting participating interest for SanomaVentures.”

About Vault79.com 
Vault79 is the first online fashion auction website in the Netherlands that auctions high-end designer brands. Thanks to a network of suppliers, Vault79 finds exclusive and trendy fashion items that it can then offer at the most competitive starting prices. Vault79 makes the products available for its members via the auctions on the website. The products are always new and authenticity is 100% guaranteed.

The auction formula allows the members to specify what they are willing to pay for a designer item. The bids begin with a low starting price, and the item ultimately goes to the highest bidder.

About the initiators
Schröder and Muller have been involved in several successful start-ups in the past. Their focus lies on developing new brands for the consumer market through innovative entrepreneurship; successful examples of this include Tango and Route Mobiel. Schröder and Muller are actively involved in setting up various new projects, and are known as hands-on investors. Earlier this year, together with Van der Klooster, Schröder and Muller invested in the social media platform Fashiolista.
Van der Klooster is an entrepreneur with international experience in high-tech B2B markets, and invests in various innovative internet initiatives such as VONQ (online recruitment advertising specialist).

i: www.vault79.com
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