- Luxury fashion company Olivela announced it raised $35 million in Series A funding led by Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc
Luxury fashion company Olivela has announced it raised $35 million in Series A funding led by Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc. Olivela was built on a philanthropic business model and donates 20% of proceeds to charitable causes across the globe. Currently, the company stocks more than 400 luxury brands.
The idea for Olivela came together when founder Stacey Boyd visited Dadaab, Kenya to attend a gathering of extraordinary girls at the world’s largest refugee camp for the 19th birthday celebration of Malala Yousafzai.
“As I reached into my bag to take a picture, I realized that a fraction of the cost of my bag could send one of these girls to school for a year,” said Boyd. “In that moment it became clear to me that while talent is equally distributed, opportunity is not.”
Upon returning home, Boyd called some of the leading luxury designers from Givenchy, Jimmy Choo, Stella McCartney, and Valentino to share her experience and ask them if they would partner with her to set up a luxury fashion and beauty retail concept that would help support at-risk communities.
Olivela has been donating to global charities since launching 2017 include CARE and Malala Fund in addition to community charities like the Nantucket Cottage Hospital and Aspen Education Foundation. Currently, Olivela has more than 60 employees in offices across New York, London, and San Francisco with style-savvy employees like former Saks Chief Merchant Kristen Sosa.
“It’s exciting to be reinventing luxury retail with purpose. For every Olivela purchase, we donate 20 percent to causes our customers care about through partnering with non-profit organizations and luxury designer brands,” explained Sosa.
This round of funding will be used to fuel Olivela’s next phase of growth. And going forward, Olivela is curating a “Women’s Empowerment” takeover that will kick off with a trip to Jordan to meet with the 30 young women who were sent to school from Olivela’s donations last year as well as 100 more who will go to school next year thanks to Boyd’s vision. Plus the company will continue to build partnerships with charitable partners locally, nationally, and internationally.
