Nadaam raises 16 million in Series A funding

New York-based sustainable, luxury cashmere company Naadam, has announced that it has raised 16 million dollars in Series A funding, led by private equity firm, Vanterra Capital with participation from Torch Capital, U-Start Club, Trail Post Ventures, and Plug & Play Ventures.

Co-founded and launched by Matthew Scanlan, Diederik Rijsemus and Hadas Saar in 2015, Naadam has disrupted the luxury cashmere industry through a sourcing model that goes directly to the source and supports supply chain sustainability with non-profit work. This round of funding will allow Naadam to strategically invest in marketing, advertising, and brand communication initiatives to support continued triple digit growth year over year. With a special focus on physical retail, the new capital will also help to drive the brand’s retail expansion plan, with permanent brick and mortar locations opening beginning fall 2018.

“Naadam is focused on fundamentally changing consumer expectations around meaningful brand values and value propositions,” said Scanlan in a statement. “Our business is built on purely sustainable supply chain practices, continually differentiating Naadam from our global competition. We are humbled but excited by the opportunity Naadam has to change the face of modern luxury brands and ethical business practices.”

Naadam deals directly with the herders, cutting out the middleman, which allows fairer prices to not only the herders but the consumer as well. And by partnering with the world’s top spinning mills, Naadam is able to produce yarns and garments of unrivaled quality.

“We like to back authentic brands at the intersection of quality and value," added Shad Azimi, managing partner at Vanterra Capital. "We believe that Naadam is well positioned in the market as they have successfully disintermediated the traditional supply chains and are using an effective e-commerce strategy to target millennial consumers. Naadam has a unique story and mission statement, and this narrative creates a personal connection with its audience that resonates."

Also participating in the round is Torch Capital and The U-Start Club. Torch Capital is backed by well known retail investor Silas Chou, who was the previous majority owner in Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger. U-Start is a venture capital advisor, syndicating investments from Italian and Swiss family offices into global high-growth digital ventures. Leveraging on the domain expertise of its network of families, U-Start focuses on early and late stage companies working in the fields of fashion, food, tech and lifestyle.