Home goods retailer WorldStores has won investment of £8.5m as it looks to reach its ambition of becoming the leading consumer destination for home and garden products.
Advent Venture Partners leads the second-round investment, which also includes existing investor Balderton Capital. The funding will be used to take Worldstores into new categories as well as to improve the delivery and service it offers.
Joe Murray, co-chief executive, and co-founder of WorldStores, said: “This investment allows us to realise our goal of developing WorldStores into a very substantial and profitable business via our winning combination of market-beating choice, great delivery and customer service, and good value for money.
“With the backing of Advent and Balderton we are perfectly positioned to achieve our ambition to be the leading online brand for home and garden products.”
Worldstores already operates 77 niche webstores, from BedroomWorld.co.uk to ShedsWorld.co.uk, selling some 175,000 different products. It is currently set to generate record sales, following a pattern of significant growth over the last three years.
Co-chief executive Richard Tucker added: “Advent has a wealth of experience in developing successful ecommerce businesses and we look forward to working with them alongside Balderton to capitalize on the many opportunities that we see for WorldStores and its proven business model.”
Following the investment, Advent general partner Mike Chalfen joins Balderton Capital partner Mark Evans on the board of WorldStores.
Chalfen said: “WorldStores is a great fit for our growth investment strategy and one of our focus areas, ecommerce. The business is proven, distinctive and growing fast.”