Dotte has closed down after struggling to raise funding

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 21, 2023

Dotte, the kidswear resale marketplace that struck deals with some of the biggest retail and brand names, has closed down after a short life of just there years. Having closed on Thursday, its website now simply has “an announcement from our co-founders”.

They said that during the last year “we have all been struck by unprecedented times. The economic crisis and the rising cost of living have made it even harder for start-ups to raise the required funding, not only to grow but simply to ride out the storm. Even though our product and business have continued to thrive, we have unfortunately struggled to raise enough investment to make it through the next 12 months. We have explored every available option to keep Dotte alive and thriving, but in the current climate it is sadly impossible for us to continue”.

They added that “nearly three years ago we set out to make secondhand feel better than shopping new. Frustrated by the lack of options for reselling our kids' clothes and confronted with stacks of unworn items building up at home, we embarked on a joint mission to make parents' lives easier at the same time as doing our bit for the planet.

“And we’re so proud of the 27,000 strong Dotte community that now exists, all working together to slow down the fastest area of fashion. We have re-homed over 4,000kg of kidswear, created a fashion destination for time-poor parents to discover amazing new brands, partnered with some of our favourite retailers — and built and launched an app.”

All sellers “will be paid money owed in their final Dotte paycheck on 28th April, via our 3rd-party payment processor, Stripe,” it said.

The company was founded by Louise Weiss and Samantha Valentine and stocked a wide range of brands. It charged 15% commission on all transactions and double that on brand partner virtual pop-ups.

As mentioned, it had struck a number of deals with major name retailers and a year ago launched an official resale partnership with M&S. 

Clarks also partnered with it from last summer and in November, Dotte announced the launch of its first app.