Balderton Invests In Fashion Site Lyst

New York-based fashion hub Lyst.com has raised $14 million as part of a plan to extend its services and increase marketing.

The platform, which has a UK-facing site, aims to be a one-stop shop allowing customers to buy from different brands and stores using just one basket.

It has raised the new capital raising, Series B funding equivalent to £8.5 million, was led by London-based venture capital firm Balderton best known for its investments in ecommerce firms from Asos to The Hut.

London-based DFJ Esprit and California's Accel Partners participated alongside angel investors Paul Forster, who co-founded Indeed.com, and John Lindfors, managing partner at Moscow-based internet investment firm DST Investment Management.

Lyst grew 400 per cent in 2012 and again in 2013 and boasts 2 million shoppers a month with annual sales of $60 million (£36 million). It partners with the likes of Saks, Burberry, Net-a-Porter, J Crew, Lane Crawford and Balenciaga.

Lyst CEO and co-founder Chris Morton said: '2013 was an amazing year for us, particularly as we launched fashion's first universal shopping cart which is revolutionising the space by enabling shoppers to check out from multiple brands and stores in a single step.'

He said: 'We're excited to have such a stellar group of European investors with strong US ties to help take Lyst to the next level.'

The funding will allow Lyst to build on its 'exponential growth' focusing on 'internationalisation and aggressively hiring talent across its teams in London and New York,' according to a statement.

Mark Evans, managing partner at Balderton which has 2.1 billion under management, said: 'We love to invest in European companies that have the potential to disrupt and grow in large global markets - something that Lyst is doing by allowing customers everywhere to build their own fashion stores stocked with their favourite brands from multiple retailers.'

Evans will join the board of Lyst, which has raised $20 million to date including $5 million Series A funds in 2012.

Techcrunch said the site plans to use some of the new capital to launch a partnership with Paypal focusing on its Beacon in-store service that alerts shoppers when they are in a section of a physical store near to an item they have marked as something they want to buy.