Vow To Be Chic Raises $5M in Series A Funding

New round of funding will focus efforts on expanding operations to
support explosive customer demand for designer bridesmaid dress rentals

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#bridalfashion–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disrupting an outdated industry to better service the way that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.

Contacts

CodedPR
Lindsey Groginski, 315.546.6016
Lindsey@codedpr.com