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Zulily Cradles $43M

2011-08-11
Meritech Capital Partners led the round with participation from existing investors.
SEATTLE, WA, Zulily, the destination site best known for offering daily deals up to 90 percent off the most popular and up-and-coming boutique brands for moms, babies and kids, today announced it has received $43 million in funding.

Meritech Capital Partners, the preeminent late-stage investment firm behind several successful Internet companies such as Facebook, Zipcar, and PopCap Games, led the investment with participation from existing investors. This latest round brings the total funds raised to date to $53.6 million.

Zulily will use the additional capital to hire more employees and fund other marketing and growth initiatives. In conjunction with the financing, Zulily is expanding its board to include Craig Sherman of Meritech.

"In 18 months, Darrell Cavens and his merchant team have established great relationships with amazing brands, allowing the company to carefully curate each event to help its members discover the best brands and styles at a great value," said Craig Sherman, managing director of Meritech Capital Partners. "The site has become the tastemaker of children's fashion and I look forward to being on the board and part of their success as they become the next big brand in children's retail."

Every day, Zulily features over 15 new exclusive sales events that offer up to 50-90 percent off items ranging from organic t-shirts and celebrity style apparel to stylish gear and high quality toys. The limited-time-only deals are promoted to Zulily's members via an email every morning at 6:00 a.m. PT. Since sales are typically only available for 72 hours, Zulily members shop the website early and often to discover new brands and grab great deals. Members are also encouraged to share Zulily sales events with friends and family, and earn a $15 store credit for use on future purchases when a friend's first order ships. The site has become a fashion leader by featuring hot styles like those of mini-me chic by Hazel, celebrity favorite Phil & Teds strollers, organic apparel by Kate Quinn Organics and Origany, and classic styles by Corky & Company and Baby Nay. With an eye towards keeping mom looking as great as her kids, Zulily also features top brands like HOTmilk, SPANX, Charles David and Karen Kane. Zulily launched its first mobile app today to make it easier for moms on-the-go to shop from the comforts of a warm bed before the kids wake up, during their morning commute on the train or during soccer practice.

"When you watch millions of customers become passionate about a brand, you can't help but become obsessed with making sure they have a fun and exciting experience while trying to find the best brands at the lowest prices for their family," said Darrell Cavens, founder and CEO of Zulily. "We have an opportunity to provide the best access to mom, baby, and kids' boutique brands not found elsewhere. The additional funding will help us deliver even more value to our members, provide an even better experience, and raise the bar to meet customer demand."

Zulily was co-founded by Darrell Cavens, the former senior vice president of marketing and technology at Blue Nile, and Mark Vadon, the chairman and founder of Blue Nile. Cavens and Vadon started the company shortly after becoming new dads and realizing that the shopping at big box retail outlets and boutique stores did not provide a broad selection of unique, high-quality children's apparel, gear and toys at reasonable prices. With an e-commerce success story under their belt at Blue Nile, the two fathers launched the Zulily website in January 2010 and have completely changed the way millions of busy moms discover the best values and hottest boutique brands for their families.

The new Zulily iPhone app is immediately available for free in the iTunes store.

About Zulily
Zulily is changing the children's retail market by offering the most unique and sought-after children's boutique brands at discounts of up to 90 percent off retail to its members. Based in Seattle, WA and formed by retail and ecommerce veterans from Blue Nile, Nordstrom, Provide Commerce and Eddie Bauer, the Zulily team helps busy moms find the highest quality apparel, gear and other goodies for moms, babies and kids, including popular brands such as Crocs, phil &teds, Corky & Co., and Melissa & Doug to unique brands such as Baby Nay, Kate Quinn Organics, and Lex Modern. For more information, please visit www.zulily.com and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

About Meritech Capital Partners:
Meritech Capital Partners is a leading provider of late-stage venture capital to category-defining private technology companies and has been one of the top performing venture firms of the past decade. With over $2.6 billion under management, Meritech primarily leads investments into portfolio companies of leading early-stage venture capital firms and looks for companies with proven and differentiated technology, rapidly-growing revenue and experienced management teams. With one of the most active venture portfolios, Meritech has experience in, and provides guidance on issues facing rapidly growing companies including management incentive plans, IPO market timing and positioning, M&A strategies and negotiations and adviser selection. Meritech investments in industry-leading companies include 2Wire, Acclarent, BigFix, Broadsoft, Cornerstone OnDemand, Danger, Facebook, Fortinet, Greenplum, Netezza, NetSuite, PopCap, Presidio, Riverbed, Salesforce.com, Sourcefire, SpringSource, Tele Atlas and Zipcar. Meritech is located in Palo Alto, CA and can be found at www.meritechcapital.com.

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