THE LNK announced it closed a $1 million seed funding round. This funding round follows THE LNK’s initial public launch in late 2022 as the first global affordable luxury marketplace to exclusively represent ethnically diverse indie brands.
Launched by Canadian entrepreneur Sonya Gill, THE LNK enables brands overseas sell and market directly to North American consumers, giving them the exposure and tools to break through in a statured market. As a smart marketplace, online aggregator, and lead generation platform, THE LNK utilizes powerful marketing and AI tools to recommend relevant, high-quality, hidden gems from around the world to customers based on profile and shopping habits.
THE LNK is going to include brands from India to Indonesia, Dubai, Morocco, Turkey, Lithuania, Vietnam, and Africa, specializing in women’s and men’s fashion, cultural fashion, functional beauty, skincare, and accessories.
This funding round was led by Reetu Gupta (Chairwoman and Ambassadress, The Gupta Group) and Suraj Gupta (Founder, Rogue Insight Capital) with participation from Manny Bahia (Founder, Daily Hive), Basem Hanna (Founder, Almega, and TerrAscend), Mona Patel (Founder, Vasant Cosmetics), and other private investors. And THE LNK will allocate the capital to further web development, expanding their team, and continuing to redefine eCommerce for unique indie brands around the world.
In conjunction with the funding, Gill announced that THE LNK welcomes Stephanie Mark as the company’s new Head of Merchandising and Content Strategy also known as the Co-Founder of the luxury media company Coveteur. Gill remains backed by an established advisory board, including 2 recently announced members: Richard McMahon (Former Chief Strategy Officer of Bed, Bath and Beyond) and Alvina Patel (Former VP of Marketing of Farfetch).
THE LNK vets thousands of indie labels for quality and logistics excellence and compiles only the best for consumers to shop. And THE LNK has already recruited nearly 450 brands selling anywhere between 50 and 300 SKUs each and partnered with Canadian logistics company E-Shipper to deliver items from around the world within days to the customer’s front door.
Overseas Fashion Market
The overseas market alone is valued at $1.7 trillion and continues to grow. And there is a massive addressable market for this shopping platform given the population of North Americans identifying as non-white is rapidly growing. Plus shoppers from ethnic backgrounds who are searching for fusion wear can easily find something high-quality, truly unique, and with reasonable shipping timelines free of unexpected duties.
KEY QUOTE:
“I’m incredibly grateful for the outpour of support from investors coming in from various industries. The seed will allow us to remove hurdles that brands on our platform face, giving them more opportunities, new connections, and exciting possibilities. Until now, it was impossible for indie brands overseas to successfully market to consumers in North America. They had beautiful products but not the tools or expertise to break through all the noise online. Thanks to years of research and development, and overcoming the many challenges of international commerce, we’ve successfully built this unique global marketplace, doubling as a marketing portal, to help close this gap.”
— Sonya Gill, Founder and CEO of THE LNK
