CPE News (3/30/2021) – Second Closet has raised $20 million in new equity funding led by Whitecap Venture Partners alongside new investor Intact Ventures, with participation from other existing investors including MIG, Michael Hyatt, and Cowie Capital Partners.
Concurrent with the funding, Intact Ventures will join the Second Closet board of directors as an observer.
The new round brings the total funds raised to date by Second Closet to $35.2 million.
Founded by Mark Ang, David Ang, and Heindrik Bernabe as a disruptive consumer storage business, Second Closet has grown to operate nine facilities across Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Montreal.
photo credit: Second Closet
News Release
Second Closet Raises $20 Million in Equity Financing
Latest investment positions the company for continued growth as it capitalizes on new market opportunities
TORONTO – March 30, 2021 – Second Closet, the company that reinvented self-storage, today announced that it has raised CAD$20 million in equity financing. The investment was led by Whitecap Venture Partners alongside new investor Intact Ventures, with participation from other existing investors including MIG, Michael Hyatt, and Cowie Capital Partners. Concurrent with the funding, Intact Ventures will join the Second Closet board of directors as an observer. This investment brings the total funds raised to date by Second Closet to $35.2 million.
Second Closet was founded in 2017 as a disruptive consumer storage business. Since that time, the company has worked with tens of thousands of Canadians and has become Canada’s largest consumer storage provider, with nine facilities across Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Montreal.
Over the past year, Second Closet has been focused on expanding its operations and building out a robust business-to-business (B2B) offering. This equity investment will enable the company to accelerate its B2B market development, expand its product development team, and round out its leadership through new executive hires. Second Closet also plans to increase its headcount in other parts of the business, growing its almost 500-strong team to 650 by mid-2021.
“Second Closet is a world class business that we are building right here in Canada. We’re very proud of how much we have achieved in such a short period of time and the significant opportunities that are on our radar for the year ahead,” said Mark Ang, CEO and co-founder of Second Closet. “We are grateful to our existing investors for continuing to back our mission and for being incredibly supportive throughout this journey, and to Intact Ventures for bringing a completely new dimension of market expertise to our business with their investment. Between Whitecap’s focus on the proptech market, and Intact Ventures’ financial services and supply chain expertise, we are very well positioned to execute on our aggressive expansion plans.”
To address the significant disruption faced by retailers over the past year, Second Closet has also played a strategic role helping brick-and-mortar retailers transition their businesses to a direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-commerce model, ensuring they can continue to operate and provide a safe, contactless approach to getting their products to customers. The company was also selected as the preferred partner for hundreds of entrepreneurs doing business using some of the largest e-commerce platforms.
“Second Closet is led by an exceptional CEO and management team. They are on an accelerated trajectory and we are pleased to be financing their next stage of growth alongside Intact Ventures and other investors,” said Shayn Diamond, Partner at Whitecap Venture Partners. “With so many new opportunities on the horizon for Second Closet, we continue to be inspired by the work the company is doing.”
“Mark and team have done an exceptional job in scaling Second Closet to meet the needs of consumers and businesses, applying technology and modern processes to address many of the pain points of traditional e-commerce logistics,” said Karim Hirji, SVP and Managing Director at Intact Ventures. “We’re pleased to join Whitecap in this financing round to support Second Closet as it continues its journey to becoming one of North America’s leading logistics-tech companies.”
About Second Closet
Second Closet is Canada’s tech-enabled logistics partner for businesses of all sizes – from small e-commerce merchants to large national retailers. Second Closet provides a customer-centric approach to fulfillment, including storage, pick and pack, shipping, and last mile delivery. By operating as an extension of each client’s business, Second Closet delivers a world class experience every step of the way, ensuring faster, more cost-effective, and complete customer deliveries that arrive on time. For more information on why Canada’s largest box mattress companies, furniture businesses, and hundreds of e-commerce entrepreneurs trust Second Closet as their fulfillment partner, visit business.secondcloset.com.
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