Fashion platform Miinto acquires Showroom and becomes market leader in Poland
- Miinto, one of Europe’s largest e-commerce fashion platforms, has acquired the Polish fashion platform Showroom
- Burda joins as an investor in the Miinto Holding
Miinto continues its European journey of growth by breaking with the traditional e-commerce way of large, cash-heavy stock and centralised distribution. Instead, hand-picked fashion stores and brands are gathered on a shared online platform. Showroom, which Miinto has acquired with effect from 5th March, is the market leader in Poland with approximately 600 Polish fashion and footwear brands.
“Poland is an exciting market where online shopping is growing generally and fashion is the largest category with an expected turnover of 2.75 billion Euro this year. We have followed Showroom and their development for some time now and have been impressed by the unique position Michał Juda, the founder of Showroom, and his team have gained. They are really good at gathering the best local designers and brands – and then they also have a special ability to inspire the Poles to shopping online”, says Konrad Kierklo, CEO of Miinto.
The teams are working towards an integration of both platforms. As a result, Miinto’s many Scandinavian and international brands will become available to Polish online shoppers.
“We know that consumers in Poland want local designers, but we also know that Scandinavian and international brands are popular. By combining the two platforms, we are creating a new marketplace for the Polish consumer, which does not exist today”, says Kierklo.
Experienced growth investor
Showroom is currently owned by subsidiaries of Hubert Burda Media (Burda), the European media and tech company which also publishes a number of high quality fashion magazines in Poland. Burda will become a new shareholder and investor in the Miinto Holding.
“With this partnership, we combine the knowledge of the Showroom team which is focused on independent designers with Miinto’s innovative model for fashion e-commerce. We are excited to be part of their vision of a European fashion platform and look forward to working together. Miinto fits perfectly to our strategy of supporting fast growing digital companies”, says Christian Teichmann, Managing Director BurdaPrincipal Investments.
“We are pleased to be able to welcome Burda to our group of investors. We have had good dialogue with their team throughout the process and have great respect for them. In addition, they have an impressive portfolio of media and digital companies under their umbrella and have a strong position on many exciting markets such as Germany, the UK, Poland, the US and Asia. They will be a strong asset on Miinto’s future journey”, says Kierklo.
About Miinto:
Miinto was established in 2009 and today counts more than 130 people distributed between the head office in Copenhagen and regional offices in Oslo, Amsterdam, Warsaw and Zurich. Miinto sells products online in seven European countries – Denmark, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and Switzerland – thanks to a strong network of local, independent fashion stores in each country.
Miinto makes it possible for independent fashion stores to sell online in a fast, easy and cost-effective way and, consequently, expand their market. By joining Miinto, they become part of a large community of independent stores gathered on a large, powerful sales platform for fashion.
“We already cooperate with more than 1,800 of the best fashion stores and brands from seven markets. Through Miinto, the stores and brands sell their hand-picked items they already have on their shelves – with dedicated, personal service for online customers from the individual shop. We work hard and focused every day to get the best selection to the customers in all our markets. At the same time, we counteract over- production in the fashion industry by selling the items that are already out in the stores”, explains Konrad Kierklo, CEO of Miinto.
