If you've ordered from a DNVB lately, Lumi's probably behind it | Lumi
Money

Lumi announced a $9M Series A this month. Here’s how they’re cornering the market in DNVB packaging.

Lumi’s responsible for much of the sleek packaging for many of today’s DNVBs. If, for instance, you’ve gotten a package from the likes of a Parachute, Proper Cloth, MM.LaFleur, or MeUndies recently, that sharply-branded cardboard box or poly mailer (and that positive first impression you got) was most likely Lumi’s doing.

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Investors are getting comfy with couches | Burrow
Money

Big Money: Burrow’s $4.3M seed points to a larger trend – VCs are warming up to emerging furniture brands.

With a couple of recent VC-backed furniture busts, no one would’ve blamed VCs for rejecting the furniture space this year. And yet here we are, close to Christmas, and two rising furniture companies — Floyd and Burrow — have both managed to raise two $4M+ rounds. We spoke to Burrow to find out how investors are looking at new furniture brands like theirs in a different light.

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Winners and losers in the Rapha acquisition | Rapha
Money

At $260M, did Rapha’s new owners pay too much?

With the lengthy Rapha sale saga now officially put to bed with this month’s acquisition by Walmart grandsons Steuart and Tom Walton, time has been afforded to reflect back and assess the winners and losers in the deal.

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Co-founders and partners Matthew Growney and Eric Lepleux | Fabulous Brands
Money

Meet Fabulous Brands: A growth capital firm addressing the “capitalization gap” for modern luxury upstarts.

Having just come out of stealth, and with investments in Naadam and True Botanicals, Fabulous Brands is a new $50M fund that’s aiming to provide the growth capital young brands need to get from $5M to $50M in eighteen months.

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$261M worth of pedal power | Rapha
Money

Rapha’s buyout by Walmart heirs marks the first M&A deal for an activewear brand in the modern luxury category.

Rapha’s $261M purchase by Walmart heirs Steuart and Tom Walton puts an end to an ‘on again, off again’ sale saga that stretched across nine long months.

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Wainwright goes on record with TechCrunch | TechCrunch
Money

The RealReal’s Julie Wainwright reveals IPO plans.

While some brands — for whom an IPO is merely a matter of time and an obvious next step — are tight-lipped and coy about their intentions to go public, The RealReal’s CEO Julie Wainwright is forthright on the matter.

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Rapha, soon to be sold to the highest bidder | Google
Money

The Rapha race: At least two bids have been tabled, valuing the brand at $261M.

Louis Vuitton may have backed out of the running, but the race to buy Rapha is still very much on.

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Getting Artsy fartsy on your phone | Artsy
Money

In the midst of turmoil for peers Paddle8 and Auctionata, online art auction house Artsy just raised a $50M Series D.

None of the recent turmoil that’s affected fellow online art auction houses Paddle8 and Auctionata has seemed to dim Artsy’s outlook, and investors seem to be anything but nervous about its prospects.

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Co-founders Akash Shah and Craig Elbert now have twelve million reasons to smile | Care/of
Money

Care/of scoops up $12M in a new Series A, its second fundraise since November.

At this point, at least in terms of valuation and momentum, it’s easy to argue that Care/of is currently king of the hill in the new emerging premium supplements and vitamins space.

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Rapha's weighed down by some rather heavy costs | Rapha
Money

Rapha’s 12 year financials just landed in our inbox. Here’s what we learned.

The leaked financials answer our biggest question about Rapha: Why exactly are their margins – £1.1M ($1.4M) on £48.8M ($62.1M) revenues for 2016 – so small? (998 words)

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