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Venture Capital News: Zulily Closes $85 Million in Series D

2012-11-16
SEATTLE, WA, Leading daily deals site for moms, today announced it has raised $85 million in Series D funding led by Andreessen Horowitz.
zulily (www.zulily.com), the leading daily deals site for moms, today announced it has raised $85 million in Series D funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. This latest investment will allow zulily to continue to improve the member experience so moms can discover even more boutique products at unbeatable prices.

zulily is also pleased to announce that there are now over 10 million members of the zulily community who have access every day to over 35 new sales events that offer up to 70 percent off. zulily features items ranging from organic t-shirts and celebrity style apparel, to stylish gear and high quality toys. zulily members receive an email every morning at 6:00 a.m. PT promoting the limited-time-only deals. Sales last an average of 72 hours and zulily members shop the website early and often to grab great deals on handpicked products and boutique brands.

"zulily is one of the fastest growing businesses we've ever encountered, which really shouldn't be a surprise given the founders' previous success at the pioneering online diamond retailer Blue Nile," said Jeff Jordan, partner, Andreessen Horowitz. "These two dads saw an amazing opportunity to fill a big underserved need, providing moms with the opportunity to buy boutique-quality apparel and household goods at mass market price points. We believe zulily has huge market potential and is well on their way to becoming an iconic e-commerce franchise."

In the last year, zulily took fulfillment in-house and built two shipping centers, one in Nevada and one in Ohio, allowing packages to get to customers faster. zulily has also expanded internationally, having launched in Europe earlier this year where there's a growing, robust collection of product daily.

"zulily is all about moms- in under three years, we've seen tremendous growth combined with the loyalty and passion of our customers which inspires us to do more every day," said Darrell Cavens, CEO of zulily. "The vast majority of purchases come from repeat customers and we need to continue to surprise and delight them. Additional funding will allow us to expand more quickly and continue to enhance the experience for today's busy mom."

Today zulily also announced the launch of the zulily app for iPad, available for free now in the App Store (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zulily/id454607051&referrer=mobile_app_landingpg). The app is designed to reflect how our mobile moms want to shop--visually, intuitively and seamlessly on the go. Over the last few months, zulily interviewed hundreds of zulily moms on how they shop online with their phones and tablets. Their feedback helped create the new app for iPad and we expect our already strong mobile growth, currently at 30 percent of transactions, to continue to grow. The app includes a unique layout, and navigation and social features that make browsing, sharing and checkout fun and fast.

zulily was co-founded by Darrell Cavens, the former senior vice president of marketing and technology at Blue Nile, and Mark Vadon, the chairman and founder of Blue Nile. Cavens and Vadon started the company shortly after becoming new dads and realizing that big box retail outlets and boutique stores did not provide a broad selection of unique, high-quality children's apparel, gear and toys at reasonable prices. With an e-commerce success story under their belt at Blue Nile, the two fathers launched the zulily website in January 2010 and have completely changed the way millions of busy moms discover the best values and hottest boutique brands for their families.

About zulily
zulily (www.zulily.com) is the leading daily deals site for moms, where every mom can find boutique products for herself, her kids and her home. More than 35 new zulily sales launch daily, filled with quality clothing, toys, decor and more. Top brands are offered alongside boutique brands, giving moms the chance to outfit their families with unique finds. Founded in 2009 and based on Seattle, zulily has become a global shopping destination with offices in Seattle, Reno, Columbus, and London.

About Andreessen Horowitz
Andreessen Horowitz is a venture capital firm that provides seed, venture and growth-stage funding to the best new technology companies. Founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz helps entrepreneurs become successful CEOs and build important and enduring companies. Its investing partners are Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, John O'Farrell, Scott Weiss, Jeff Jordan and Peter Levine, all widely recognized experts in the creation, scaling and operation of high growth technology companies. The firm has $2.7 billion under management across three funds. Among its 150 investments are Airbnb, Apptio, Box, Fab, Facebook, Foursquare, GitHub, Jawbone, Lytro, Pinterest, Quirky and Twitter. The firm was established in June 2009 and is located in Menlo Park, California. www.a16z.com

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