Russian online shopping club raises $20M to sell discounted designer clothes

January 18, 2010 | Dean Takahashi

russian Russian electronic commerce site KupiVIP.ru has raised $20 million in a funding round led by Accel Partners.

The Moscow-based company has been operating for a year and it has more than a million members in its online shopping club. KupiVIP.ru sells discounted fashion goods from 500 different brands. Oskar Hartmann, chief executive, said that the round was the largest investment to date in a Russian e-commerce vendor.

Other investors are Mangrove Capital Partners, ARLAN, Direct Group and business angel, Oliver Jung. Sonali De Rycker from Accel will join KupiVIP.ru’s board. The company previously raised $11 million in 2008. The capital will be used to invest in logistics and operational infrastructure. KupiVIP.ru plans to double the number of brands to 1,000 in 2010, and grow the number of sales events to 2,500.

kupi The company has about 170 employees. Buyers clubs such as KupiVIP.ru have been doing well during the recession across Europe because they offer big discounts on designer goods.

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About the Author, Dean Takahashi

Dean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.