Quince Launches as Destination for High-Quality, Radically-Affordable Fashion and Home Essentials, Unveiling Industry-First Manufacturer-to-Consumer Model

The online retail brand also announced $8.5 million in seed funding from Founders Fund, 8VC and Basis Set Ventures


SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- After a year of beta-testing as Last Brand, today Quince formally launches as a curated marketplace for high-quality, affordable fashion and home essentials. The brand’s high-quality and lowest price promise is backed by an industry-first retail model called manufacturer-to-consumer (“M2C”). Quince is also officially disclosing today an $8.5 million seed round of funding from Founders Fund, 8VC and Basis Set Ventures. The financing to date has supported beta testing and proof of concept, and will be used to continue to scale the model and expand product categories and diversity.

Quince’s innovative M2C model enables factories and manufacturers around the world to sell goods directly to consumers. Over the past two years, the company has curated a network of 30+ top-quality manufacturers across a variety of categories, from Mongolian cashmere to Italian leather. These factories manufacture to demand and just in time, and ship goods directly from the factory floor to the consumer’s doorstep. To build this direct supply chain, Quince architected a sophisticated infrastructure of point-to-point logistics across multiple countries, vendors and carriers, using technology to make the ambitious vision of connecting makers and consumers a reality.

This brand new M2C model builds on the evolution of the retail industry of the past decade. Following the advent of e-commerce, digitally-native brands and marketplaces changed how consumers shop. Quince takes the fundamental ideas of cutting out the middleman and aggregating creators to the next level. By curating premium manufacturers into a single destination and enabling them to sell direct, Quince offers better margins for creators, far better prices for consumers, and a more agile and sustainable model for the retail industry.

“Digitally native brands flooded the market with one thing: choice,” says Sid Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Quince. “They claimed a more direct supply chain. But, as nearly all retailers grew an online presence, they’ve become just alternatives to the old stalwarts, even opening stores. We’re building a radically different model that isn’t just another brand, but a total reimagining of the retail supply chain that brings people closer to those actually making their goods, and eliminates the unnecessary markup that comes with an inefficient system.”

Today, Quince offers over 700 unique men’s and women’s apparel, accessories, jewelry, and home goods, all from more than 30 top manufacturers around the world.

“Quince’s M2C model comes during a time of reckoning and reinvention in retail,” said Scott Nolan, Partner at Founders Fund. “Historically, retailers and manufacturers had misaligned, fragmented relationships. Quince’s approach aligns the interests of the factory looking for better margins, the consumer looking for a better price and value, and a retail industry desperately in need of what’s next.”

“Over the past year, Quince has quickly built an impressive assortment of premium-quality products at unbeatable prices,” says Drew Oetting, founding partner at 8VC. “The consumer response has validated the market opportunity, and Quince is launching just in time to meet the strong consumer demand for exceptional goods at fair prices.”

For more information, please visit onequince.com.

About Quince
Quince is a curated online marketplace that sells high-quality fashion and home goods at radically low prices—direct from the factory floor. The company pioneered a manufacturer-to-consumer (M2C) retail model in which factories produce inventory on demand and ship their goods directly to consumers' doorsteps, cutting out financial and environmental waste. Quince is headquartered in San Francisco, CA and partners with more than 30 top manufacturers around the world. Visit Quince at onequince.com or on Instagram at @onequince.



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