Lyst raises new cash, mulls IPO - report

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 11, 2021

Lyst, the London-based upscale fashion search-to-retail platform, is reportedly mulling an IPO, having raised $85 million from a variety of investors.

Sky News reported late on Tuesday that it has raised the money from Fidelity and C4 Ventures, among others. Net-a-Porter co-founder Carmen Busquets is reportedly increasing her investment in Lyst too.

And importantly, the report also cited “sources” saying the fundraising  “would be positioned as a pre-IPO round, suggesting that a public flotation could take place in the next year.”

Lyst, which has as many as 150 million users, is a major platform for discovering premium and high-end fashion. It’s believed to have seen a surge in users and gross merchandise value exceeding $500 million on the back of the pandemic.

But the company hasn’t commented on any of that yet and has stayed tight-lipped about its fundraising and any prospects for an IPO.

Sky said it had no indication of the overall valuation of the company and while an IPO might be thought about for next year, there’s no indication of where it might happen. The UK government is likely to be keen to attract it to the London Stock Exchange, especially following Brexit and the LSE being rejected as the location for several high-profile recent IPOs. London-based Farfetch, for instance, is listed in New York. And value retailer Pepco has chosen the Warsaw exchange over London for its float.

That said, some other high-profile listings have recently happened in London, including The Hut Group and Dr Martens.

Lyst was founded in 2010 by Chris Morton and has grown fast since its last major fundraising back in 2018. Existing backers include Draper Esprit, Accel and Balderton Capital. LVMH is also an investor.