Otrium Launches Its Premier Fashion Marketplace in the US to Connect Brands With Consumers to Solve Industry's Problem of Excess Inventory

Tech platform offers innovative solution to give brands of all sizes an online outlet, consumers an informed way to buy fashion and the industry a more sustainable future

Otrium, the marketplace for end-of-season fashion, today announces its expansion into the US. Leveraging its proprietary technology, Otrium helps brands fix the costly economic and environmental challenges of excess inventory, while offering customers access to the best fashion brands at exceptional prices with premium service. Otrium offers a seamless way for fashion brands to set up an outlet store online, levelling the playing field for brands previously unable to invest in physical outlets.

Otrium's purpose is to ensure that all clothing is worn. Currently, approximately 12% of clothing produced, or more than $200 billion, stays unsold sitting in warehouses. Through its proprietary technology, Otrium enables brands to easily set up their own store through its managed marketplace, giving brands full control over pricing, merchandising, visibility and placement. This means that brands can sell their excess inventory without fear of their brand being degraded by third-party retailers.

Otrium's technology has automated many of the processes for brands, making setting up an online store time efficient, giving brands back many of the people hours typically required to set up an online sales presence. By providing brands with a measurable alternative to stock buyers or sending unsold products to landfills, Otrium also supports its partner brands' sustainability credentials.

The business completed Series C funding of $120m to fuel its US expansion earlier this year via BOND Capital, Index Ventures and Eight Roads. Kering Group is also an early stage investor. Otrium recently announced senior technology executive, Zuhairah Scott Washington, formerly with marketplace leaders Uber and Expedia Group, is leading this expansion as President.

"Fashion is the world's largest art form and the way many choose to express themselves daily. Unfortunately, the industry has been trapped in a broken cycle of inefficiency, leaving brands with few viable ways to efficiently sell excess inventory in an economical and environmentally favorable way," said Washington. "Otrium has developed a tech and data led approach that gives the industry greater control and insight over this inventory, and access to data which will eventually lead to a more sustainable way for fashion to be produced and sold."

Otrium's proprietary analytics helps brands determine which of their clothing items will be the most popular sellers over time, based on past demand. Data-made fashion enables brands to reproduce their most wanted items, ultimately minimizing waste.

"Our long term goal at Otrium is to help brands produce clothing that ends up being worn resulting in less overall waste. '' said Washington. "Otrium's brand partners access our large audience of fashion-lovers using our platform. Our technology enables us to reach our members, in a discreet and highly targeted way – something that isn't possible in the traditional outlet model."

Otrium's US marketplace launches with brands including Adam Lippes, Belstaff, Cynthia Rowley, Faherty and Reiss with many of the globally recognized brands on its European platform, which range from Karl Lagerfeld to Asics, coming soon. With over 70% of the world's clothing ending up in landfills, at any one time Otrium has hundreds of millions of dollars of stock on its platform globally with a significant proportion selling within weeks, avoiding resellers, stock buyers and ultimately landfills. This helps Otrium's global brand partners maximize margins and saves its members an average of 67% off (and up to 75%) the original price.

Otrium was founded by Milan Daniels and Max Klijnstra, who are childhood friends and first collaborated on a designer clothing start-up together as university graduates. Their experiences in the world of fashion soon led them to discover that excess inventory is a significant sustainability problem that needs fixing. Milan and Max founded Otrium to do just that.

With 3M registered members, Otrium is seeing its revenues more than double in 2021. It has over 300 fashion brands on its app globally and serves more than 20 markets across Europe and the US from 3 logistics hubs.

About Otrium

Otrium sees a future where all clothing is worn, solving the multi-billion dollar industry challenge of unsold inventory. The company's proprietary technology enables brands of any size to quickly set up their own outlet store through its managed marketplace. For its 3M registered members, Otrium offers a personalized fashion experience and reductions of up to 75% off a wide range of designer and luxury brands. Otrium employs over 270 people across hubs in London, New York and Amsterdam with registered headquarters in the Netherlands.

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