Ahalife, an online shop for curated one-of-a-kind, luxury wares, has raised $10.1 million in a second round of funding.
It must be hard to be rich. You’ve already bought everything new from Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, and Saks, so where else can you shop for something more unique than the latest $5,000 Hermes handbag? You take to the Internet to buy the most exclusive, luxury gifts — like a $10,000 bag made from crocodile skin.
Ahalife’s founder and chief executive Shauna Mei has an impressive fashion background; prior to Ahalife, she started a business with former Marc Jacobs chief executive Jeffrey Aronsson, Donna Karan, and Oscar de la Renta. Wanting to offer the most unique luxury goods out there, she created Ahalife to sell hand-selected products.
Ahalife reveals one new product every day from one of its celebrity curators — people like designer Donna Karan, fashion consultant Tim Gunn, and makeup artist Carmindy. Each product has a thoughtfully written story about where it came from, how it was made, and why it’s worth its price tag. The site’s inventory is made up of clothing, food, beauty products, accessories, home decor, and tech products, along with travel experiences.
Services such as Of a Kind, Gilt, and Fab, offer similar shopping experiences to Ahalife. Of a Kind offers small-batch items for sale, so you know you’re one of only 20 people who own a specific designer handbag. Gilt and Fab are more focused on finding you a good deal while still shopping for higher-end, hand-picked products.
The funding will be used to grow the company. Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten led the round, with participation from existing investors DCM and FirstMark Capital. The company has raised a total of $19.1 million.
