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Spartoo.com secures €12 million in funding to accelerate European growth

Press release January 13, 2010 Business

Highland Capital Partners and Endeavour Vision lead Series B round of financing

Paris-London, 13 January 2010 - Spartoo.com, the European leader in internet footwear sales, has closed on a €12 million Series B round of financing to accelerate growth and reinforce its N°1 position in Europe.

This funding round has been led by Highland Capital Partners and Endeavour Vision, who have been joined by existing investors A Plus Finance and CM-CIC Capital Privé.

Created three years ago, Spartoo.com is the European leader in internet footwear sales with over 600 000 regular customers and over 4 million unique visitors (Nielsen, November 2009).  In a European market estimated at over €50 billion, Spartoo.com has seen its turnover multiply by 70 over the past three years and has recently been nominated amongst the fastest growing companies in Europe by GP Bullhound Media Momentum.

The company offers a unique consumer experience through its large choice of brand name shoes and has been consistently recognised by the market for the exceptional quality of their customer service (Cercle d’excellence 2009, Shopzilla).

Spartoo operates in France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg.

“In a very short time we have gained the position of uncontested leader in the European market. We are delighted to partner with top-tier investment funds and build on Spartoo.com’s solid foundation to realise the next stage of our company’s growth,” said Boris Saragaglia, co-founder and CEO of Spartoo.com.

“We were attracted by the quality of the team and its capacity to build a capital efficient company with exceptionally strong growth prospects. Spartoo.com is the clear European market leader in online footwear.  I am very excited at the idea of working with this team to make Spartoo.com the European Zappos.” said Fergal Mullen, General Partner, Highland Capital Partners.

“ I was particulary impressed by the attention that the company pays to its customers – a key element in the success of such a project.  I am very happy to be able to accompany the team in the construction of their European stategy centered around the quality of its offer and its customer service.” said Bernard Vogel, Managing Partner, Endeavour Vision.

The funding round was realised with the advice of Clipperton Finance.

About Spartoo.com : « N°1 in footwear inEurope » 

Founded in 2005 by two HEC graduates, Boris Saragaglia (Mines-HEC), Paul Lorne (Centrale-HEC) and Jérémie Touchard (Mines), Spartoo.com is the European leader in the internet footwear market.

Spartoo.com has selected reliable and recognized partners: Morin Logistic (Rue de Commerce, Top Achat..) for the logistics as well as  CIC for on-line payment, therby ensuring security and an optimal quality of service for our customers.

Spartoo.com references over 150 top brands (Geox, Converse, adidas, Timberland,Nike ...)with over 7 000 models (Women shoes, Man shoes, Children shoes) and an exceptional customer service: Free delivery and return within 30 days.

Spartoo.com operates in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and Italie.

- Over 4 Million unique visitorsNovember 2009 (Médiametrie, Europe) 

- Top 10 internet fashion sites behind the Redoute, 3suisses. (Médiametrie 2009)

- Top 10 of companies with the strongest growth inEurope.(Mediamomentum.co.uk, 2009)

- Only  e- commerce site selected by “le French Tech Tour2009” 

AboutHighlandCapital Partners

Highland Capital Partners was founded with the mission of helping great people build great companies. For over twenty years, the firm has taken a sector-focused approach to investing in exceptional healthcare, internet & digital media and technology companies. With 3 billion of committed capital and offices in Boston, Silicon Valley, Shanghai and Geneva, Highland has invested in and worked to create such firms as Ask Jeeves, Avid Technology, CheckFree, Conor Medsystems, Continental Cable, lululemon athletica, Lycos, MapQuest, Navic Networks, Ocular Networks, P.A. Semi, Quattro Wireless, Quigo, Starent Networks, Sybase, Telica and VistaPrint. For more information, visit Highland's web site at www.hcp.com.

About Endeavour Vision

Endeavour Vision combines a team of experienced venture capital professionals who have collectively invested since 1989 in over 75 companies in 12 countries in both the Information Technologies and Life Sciences. The firm backs entrepreneurs from emerging European companies which have the potential to become global leaders.  Beyond access to capital, Endeavour Vision brings years of experience, expertise and network to its entrepreneurs, with a shared passion for success. For more information, please visit www.endeavourvision.com  

About CM-CIC Capital Privé 

Subsidiary of CIC Finance, CM-CIC Capital Privé manages funds «  Fonds Commun de Placement dans l'Innovation (FCPI) » and « Fonds d'Investissement de Proximité (FIP) » for Crédit Mutuel - CIC. As of 1 January 2010, the managed funds totalled €400 million spread between eleven FCPI and thirteen FIP. CM-CIC Capital Privé acompanies innovative companies including: Spartoo.com, Nexway, Deezer, Travel Horizon, Canal CE, Tekka, Digitick, Metrixware, Kadrige. For more information please visit www.cmciccapitalprive.com. 

About A Plus Finance

A Plus Finance is an independent venture capital firm, based in Paris. A Plus Finance invests in all innovative fields with a focus on information technology. Our team mixes entrepreneurs and finance professionals, thus bringing the managers an understanding of what good execution means and a long term vision of exit strategies. Managing €250 million, A Plus Finance invests from €1 to €5 million on a first round of financing. For more information, please visit: www.aplusfinance.com 

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