Tag: Leflair

  • E-commerce platform Leflair set for Q3 comeback

    E-commerce platform Leflair set for Q3 comeback

    E-commerce platform for branded goods Leflair is expected to resume operations under a new owner in Q3.

    The U.S.-based Society Pass Incorporated announced Wednesday it had bought Leflair and other intellectual properties, including the domain name, from a company in Hong Kong.

    The revived Leflair will expand operations to other Southeast Asian markets next year, Society Pass Inc. said.

    Society Pass is an e-commerce startup that specializes in connecting consumers with suppliers in Southeast Asia and South Asia. In Vietnam, Society Pass currently runs Sopa, an e-commerce platform for foods and drinks and gastronomy, and #Hottab, a supplier of solutions and marketing connections for users’ data management.

    Leflair was established in 2015 by two French young entrepreneurs, Loic Gautier and Pierre-Antoine Brun. It acted as an e-commerce platform for branded goods and flash sales. It did not operate as an online marketplace, but worked directly with brands and official distributors in Vietnam and overseas.

    In four years ending in 2019, it secured over 120,000 clients and made net revenues of tens of millions of dollars a year. It ceased operations early 2020. Co-founder and COO of Leflair, Brun, had told suppliers then that the firm had not settled debts totaling $2 million.

    Society Pass said it has nothing to do with Leflair’s old legal entity in Vietnam as also the two individuals who’d co-founded it earlier.

  • Vietnamese ecommerce Leflair receives US$7-million investment

    Vietnamese ecommerce Leflair receives US$7-million investment

    Vietnamese e-commerce firm Leflair has raised US$7 million in a Series B funding round from South Korea’s GS Shop and private equity firm Belt Road Capital Management. This investment is the first by GS Group’s online retail subsidiary GS Shop in a Vietnam startup, and is expected to increase the volume of South Korean products in Leflair’s inventory.

    “We are going to use this capital first to leverage as much as possible the strategic partnership with GS. It means investing in hiring the teams that will make this partnership a success and deploying resources in the areas of fulfillment, delivery, and technology,” says Leflair CEO and co-founder Loic Gautier.

    “This year will be one of regional expansion as we progress towards making the world’s best brands accessible to more consumers in Southeast Asia,” Gautier added.

    Founded in 2015, Leflair focuses on premium-branded products for women, men, kids, and homes. Since its launch, Leflair has raised US$11.8 million investment from angel investors and venture capital firms from the US, France, Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Cambodia.

    According to a recent EU-Vietnam Business Network report, Vietnam had about 51 million internet users in 2017. Vietnam’s e-commerce sector is forecast to continue growing at 14 per cent annually this year and next.