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Boticca was a London-based retail website for jewelry and fashion accessories, that featured a selection of emerging fashion designers.[1][2][3]
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Jewelry, fashion accessories |
| Founded | October 2009 |
| Founder | Kiyan Foroughi, Avid Larizadeh |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Global |
| Products | Jewelry, Handbags, Fashion accessories |
| Website | Boticca.com |
Kiyan Foroughi, a French former investment banker while on holiday in Marrakesh in December 2008, engaged in conversation with jewelry designer Mariam.[4] Living in the Atlas Mountains, Mariam travelled to the souq in Marrakesh three times a week to sell her jewelry, mainly to tourists. Foroughi decided to launch a retail website with co-founder Avid Larizadeh selling emerging designers like Mariam.[5]
Since launching in January 2010,[2] the company featured in Vogue,[3] and worn by Kate Moss, Cameron Diaz and Jessica Alba.[3][6]
In the company's first round of funding, Boticca raised $2.5M, led by ISAI and joined by Japanese Internet incubator Digital Garage.[7] In its second round in September 2013 it raised an additional $4 million (£2.44m), led by UK venture capital firm MMC Ventures, and high-net-worth individuals, including Sina Afra.[5]
In April 2014, co-founder Avid Larizadeh, left Boticca operationally in her role as COO while remaining a founding shareholder of the business.
In September 2014, Boticca unveiled a fully rebranded website with major UI improvements, a novel content strategy, a shipping partnership with DHL and the appointment of Dave Killeen (formerly Product Lead at Badoo and Executive Product Manager for the BBC iPlayer) as Product Director.[8]
In October 2014, Boticca appointed former Liberty Fashion Director and MyWardrobe Buying and Merchandising Director Luisa De Paula as the new Fashion & Brand Director.[9]
In August 2015, Boticca was acquired by Wolf & Badger.[10]
As of June 2020, Boticca.com redirects to the Wolf & Badger website.
The company took only a maximum 35% of the sale price,[5] as opposed to the normal online retail model of between 40% and 50%, leaving the creator with 65%.[5] The company garnered between 30 and 40 new retail designer applications each week, of which on average just 3 or 4 were listed on the website.[5] The company also sourced through two in-house style hunters, who through researching through web, magazines, blogs, trade shows and fashion weeks spotted new talent, and hence sourced around 90% of the newly listed product.[5] Global designers could apply to be featured, but all designers had to uphold the "Designer Charter" in order to ensure quality of both product and customer service.[11]
By January 2011 Boticca was retailing independent designers from over 40 countries, including Estonia, Lebanon, South Korea the United Arab Emirates and Colombia.[1] 155 of the 350 brands sold through the website led on jewelry, whilst the rest covered accessories such as bags, scarves, belts and hats.[5] After the second round of fund raising, the company launched Boticca.fr in September 2013, making France the companies' third biggest market after the UK and United States.[5]
The Independent rated it first in their 2014 survey of the top six jewelry retail websites.[12]
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