Scarosso aims to be the Warby Parker of shoes with $ 11 million from NEO, DN Capital – TechCrunch

Warby Parker has made a name for itself as a supplier of bespoke eyewear, first in the US and now worldwide. Vertical integration – where a company makes and sells something – has become an important issue and is reinforced by the efficiency of the technology platforms. Now, Scarosso (based in Berlin), who makes and sells handmade Italian shoes online, has attracted significant investment because of this model.

Series B financing led by NEO Investment Partners, DN Capital and IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft raised US $ 11 million to grow internationally.

It’s not hard to see why. Scarosso claims to have seen over 300% growth in 2013 alone. And now the brand has recruited several leading figures in the fashion industry to join the Scarosso team. Robert Polet, former CEO of the GUCCI Group, and the international model Johannes Huebl have both joined as consultants.

Scarosso was founded in 2010 by Moritz Offeney and Marco Reiter.

“We are vertically integrated and sell our products directly to our consumers through our e-commerce platform and our 6 retail stores. By cutting out the wholesale staff and distributing the products to our consumers directly, we can reduce the wholesale margin and deliver luxury products at half the price compared to our competitors. Our manufacturers produce for the world’s largest luxury brands and are based in Italy, ”says Marco Reiter.

Sara Ferrero, Partner at Neo Investments, commented, “Scarosso is innovative in several dimensions – this business is multi-channel, vertically integrated, with an incredibly compelling value proposition and state-of-the-art customer service.”

Competitors include Jack Erwin, Tods, Crocket & Jones, and Church’s. In the US, it would fictionally compete with Jack Erwin, who was recently funded.

The ready-to-use, bespoke and bespoke designs are available both online and in stores in cities like Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Vienna. It sources its leather from tanneries that are traditionally located in southern France and Italy.