German Textile Retailer Urbanara Attracts Ukrainian Funding With Co-investors

Ukrainian VC fund TA Venture, along with international investors that include Blumberg Capital and Brain-to-Ventures, has jointly invested in Urbanara, an online home textile and fabric accessory retail start-up company to the tune of USD 4.4 mln. The investors were roped in with prospects of rapid growth; Urbanara’s operations are already in an expansion mode in markets like Germany, the UK and Austria, and will also cater to suppliers from within the Ukraine and Russia once it opens its doors in the region, which is expected to be in the next three months. Customers from these two regions will also be able to shop online with Urbanara by that time.

Urbanara  (www.urbanara.co.uk)

Urbanara was created with a vision to connect domestic buyers to manufacturers directly, eliminating the costs involved with in-between handlers. The company is driven by high quality, low pricing and the latest technology. Their suppliers circle the globe, with customers enjoying products from as far away as Peru, South Africa and Mongolia, as well as from local producers of quality home textile products. Urbanara currently operates out of two offices – one in Shanghai, China and the other in Berlin. Having shown tremendous growth in Western European markets of Austria, Germany and England, Urbanara is now set to conquer markets in the Central and Eastern European sector – specifically, Russia and the CIS. Officially launched in Germany and Austria in February 2011, the company has quickly developed their product line to over 800 items, and has successfully processed 10,000 orders in its first year of operation alone.