FinTech News
Croissant Launches, Raises $24 Million Seed Round
A FinTech platform that helps power retail reselling has raised a new round of funds upon its launch.
About the funding round:
The FinTech Croissant recently announced that it had raised $24 million. The seed round included participation from Portage, as well as KKR co-founders George Roberts and Henry Kravis. These funds helped accelerate the platform’s MVP launch. To date, the company has now raised a total of $48 million including previous venture rounds from XRC Ventures.
About Croissant:
With Croissant, merchants can seamlessly offer customers a guaranteed buyback value at checkout. These offers are generated using the service’s data science and AI tools, with Croissant fulfilling the guaranteed values. According to the company, this option leads to higher conversation rates as well as increased average order value. What’s more, when consumers choose to sell their items, they are directed back to the original merchant, which raises retention rates and lifetime value of customers.
Currently, some of Croissant’s merchant partners (as listed on their website) include Lord & Taylor, Favorite Daughter, Black Iris, and more.
What they’re saying:
Speaking on the idea and need for Croissant, co-founder and CEO John Howard said, “Over the past decade, we’ve seen immense changes happen at e-commerce point of sale. But rapidly evolving consumer behavior and expectations mean it’s no longer enough for merchants to have a seamless credit card or mobile wallet experience; they need to activate consumer psychology around the purchase decision in empowering, impactful, and effortless ways to truly stand out.” Howard continued, “Croissant allows merchants to increase sales, consumers to buy more and better, and both to enjoy the benefits of resale without doing any reselling whatsoever. Bottom line – Croissant contributes to a richer, more vibrant commerce experience for everybody.”
As for why Portage decided to invest in Croissant, the firm’s partner Stephanie Choo stated, “Only a small percentage of resellable fashion is transacted globally each year, but it’s still a $130 billion market that is rapidly growing. To date, retailers are seeing little to no benefit from this ongoing boom. Croissant enables them to harness the interest in and growth of resale to drive new full-price sales with minimal integration and no need to transact within the secondhand ecosystem themselves.”
My thoughts:
Although Croissant may not be the type of startup you think of being quintessentially “FinTech,” their self-identification coupled with their outlook on the service is interesting. In their release, they note that the platform is meant to move the mindset of consumers from debt and credit to asset ownership. Spin aside, there is something to be said for their model that essentially encourages the recycling of items rather than leaving them to be discarded.
In any case, the $24 million Croissant has added to its coffers is impressive — especially at a time when FinTech funding is way down. So, while it’s too soon to say whether Croissant’s model could be the next big retail integration, it seems to be off to a strong start.
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