Vow To Be Chic, the first and only designer bridesmaid dress rental startup based in Santa Monica, has received $5 million in a Series A funding to give millennial women the shopping experience and dream wedding that they desire while providing aspirational designer dresses at a fraction of the cost.
The round includes existing investors Pritzker Group Venture Capital and Wavemaker Partners, and new investor, Women’s Venture Capital Fund. The funds will be used to scale the business, improve technology systems and grow the team to enhance customer experience and support growing demand.
“Men have been winning for decades by renting tuxes while women purchased expensive dresses that they only wore once. I knew something had to change. Someone needed to solve the ’27 Dresses’ problem,” says Vow To Be Chic CEO and Founder, Kelsey Doorey. “With these funds, we are excited to continue expanding our offering so that women have a superior option when planning their weddings” says Doorey.
Vow To Be Chic offers an affordable $50-$95 designer bridesmaid dress solution to the standard $300 dress, while catering to an on-demand-obsessed generation with top tier customer service. “Vow To Be Chic is a company for women and by women focused on disrupting an outdated industry to better service the way that millennials want to shop online, cost-effectively and hassle-free. The Women’s Venture Capital Fund has been closely tracking Vow for the past year and their robust growth has proven that women are eagerly seeking this option. The time was right for us to invest,” says Monica Dodi, Managing Director and Co-Founder of The Women’s Venture Capital Fund.
It’s no surprise that with the ease of the e-commerce platform and the high-touch bridal stylist service, word of mouth has been the catalyst for growth. 70% of Vow To Be Chic’s customers have referred at least 1 friend and 20% of customers have referred 5 or more of their friends to Vow. “Vow understands that a great, white-glove customer experience is vitally important in the wedding process. Once the team and operations are scaled, their growth will exponentially increase.” says advisor of Vow To Be Chic, Lizzie Francis, Founding Partner at Brilliant Ventures and former CMO of Gilt Groupe and President of JustFab.
The wedding industry is a $100+ billion dollar industry that has been seeped in tradition and consequently overlooked for years. Vow To Be Chic is feverishly leading the charge to reinvent bridal planning starting with this unique niche of designer bridesmaid dresses and bringing it into the 21st century for today’s millennial consumer. “There is clear pent up demand for this solution. For the past year, we have been exceptionally impressed with Doorey and the Vow team’s execution and are excited to double down on our existing investment in the company,” says Matt McCall, Partner at Pritzker Group Venture Capital.
Vow To Be Chic currently offers the option to rent or purchase their dresses and has recently expanded its’ offering into accessories for purchase. Vow will continue to introduce new designers and brand extensions into their business.
About Vow To Be Chic:
Vow To Be Chic is the first and only company to offer designer bridesmaid dress rentals, introducing cost savings, luxury style options and convenience to the bridesmaid experience. This ecommerce platform brings an age-old tradition into the 21st century by allowing women to conduct this typically frustrating shopping experience from the comfort of their desktop or smartphone. Bridesmaid dresses by designers, including Monique Lhuillier, Nicole Miller, Theia and Jenny Yoo, retail for an average of $300, but now can be rented for as little as $50. Rentals include complimentary access to a personal stylist to assist the customers through the process. The service includes a Great Fit Guaranteed policy, try-on and color swatch options, free shipping and free dry cleaning post event. Follow Voy To Be Chic on Facebook and Twitter.
