Gimv invests EUR 4.5 million in online design specialist ‘Made In Design’ Gimv invests EUR 4.5 million in online design specialist ‘Made In Design’ Gimv invests EUR 4.5 million in online design specialist ‘Made In Design’

Gimv invests EUR 4.5 million in online design specialist ‘Made In Design’

Portfolio

Gimv invests EUR 4.5 million in the first institutional financing round of French company Made In Design. This online store for design furniture currently operates in France and the UK. The capital increase will be used to further roll out Made In Design in several other European countries (starting with Italy and Germany in 2010), and to implement and strengthen its presence in the B2B market. As a strategic partner for design brands, the company’s ultimate goal is to become the leading portal of design in Europe.

Made In Design (www.madeindesign.com) was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Grenoble (France). It is the leading website in France for purchasing design furniture and objects. The company has partnerships with major design brands like Alessi, Kartell and Foscarini. Moreover, the company has the most complete product offering on the web, with more than 800 designers and more than 10,000 products available. Its product range varies from a set of Starck-knifes of just over 2 EUR over Herman Miller’s office armchairs up to a 16,000 EUR lounge tent by Extremis.

The company employs about 35 FTEs and realised a turnover of more than EUR 7.0 million in 2008. Online purchases of home furniture are gradually gaining ground in Europe. In the US they account for 11% of total home furniture sales, whereas in France they only attain 3%, although growing very fast.

The investment in Made In Design is the result of a joint effort by Gimv’s French Buyout & Growth team and the Technology team. Anne Caron and Geoffroy Dubus, both working in Gimv’s Paris office, will become member of Made In Design’s board of directors.

Geoffroy Dubus about this transaction: “We are very excited about working with Catherine Colin and her team. Over the past years Made in Design has been able to become the online leader of design products in France. With our investment, we will help the company become the number one in Europe.”

All parties involved have decided not to disclose any financial details on this transaction.