Fab (website)

Fab is an e-commerce company founded in 2010. Once estimated at a worth of over $1 billion, in March 2015, the digital and ecommerce assets of Fab were acquired by PCH International for an undisclosed sum and has since been relaunched as a new entity with no interaction from the original founders.[1]

Fab.com, Fab
Type of site
Design, e-commerce
Available inEnglish, German
Created byJason Goldberg and Bradford Shellhammer
URLfab.com
RegistrationOptional
LaunchedJune 9, 2011 (2011-06-09)
Current statusOnline

It grew from 175,000 members in June 2011, to over 10 million as of December 2012.[2][3][4] As of April 30, 2013, Fab disclosed it received 6 million unique visitors per month and had sold over 7 million products since launch.[5] Fab was originally headquartered in Manhattan and operated a warehouse in Keasbey, New Jersey. The company once had office locations in Pune (India), and Berlin.

History

Fab was founded in February 2010 by Jason Goldberg (formerly of XING AG and Jobster) and chief designer Bradford Shellhammer. The pair had previously founded Fabulis which was a social network for gay men and their friends before pivoting on June 9, 2011 into Fab, with its model of daily design inspirations and sales.[6][7] In November 2011, five months after re-launching, Fab reached 1 million members. The company reached this number faster than Facebook, Twitter and Groupon.[8][9] In September 2012, Fab removed the membership requirements to browse the site.[10] In December 2012, Fab passed 10 million members, up from 7.5 million members in September. Fab also announced it had sold more than 4.3 million products since its launch, averaging 5.4 products sold per minute.[11] In July 2013, fab eliminated 100 positions at its Berlin office as a profit-building measure. Fab laid off 101 more staff, primarily at its New York City office in October 2013, further reducing their workforce by 19 percent.[12]

On September, 2014, Fab launched a sister website Hem, a design site offering customized furniture designs.[13]

In 2014, Bradford Shellhammer left his role as chief design officer to create his own curated design marketplace, Bezar.[14]

Acquisitions

Fab made its first acquisition in January 2012 when it purchased independent fashion retailer FashionStake.[15] In February 2012, Fab purchased German flash sales website Casacanda, founded by Roman Kirsch in 2011.[16] Four months later the company acquired UK-based online design retailer Llustre.[17] In June 2014, Fab acquired Finnish e-retailer One Nordic Furniture for an undisclosed sum paid in cash and stock.[18]

Social commerce

Fab promoted social commerce.[19] The company maintained an Inspiration Wall where members could upload and share design inspirations.[20] In December 2011, Fab introduced its “Live Feed”, which enables users to share what they are buying, liking, and tweeting on Fab.com.[21] In January 2012, Fab was among Facebook's initial partners as part of its integration of social tools through the Facebook Timeline.[22] The company also employed a mobile first strategy with its digital products, with an emphasis on iPad and iPhone, and released a custom mobile app in October 2012.[23]

Funding

Less than two months after launching in June 2011 Fab secured an $8 million funding round led by Menlo Ventures with existing investors including First Round Capital, Baroda Ventures, The Washington Post, Founder and CEO Jason Goldberg, SoftTech VC, SV Angel, Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary and A-Grade Investments, and Zelkova Ventures also participating.[24][25] In December 2011, Fab.com raised a $40 million round of funding led by investment firm Andreessen Horowitz, bringing its total funding to over $51 million.[26]

Fab's largest round of funding, $105 million, occurred shortly after its 1-year anniversary in July 2012. The Series C round was led by Atomico with the following previous investors also participating: Andreessen Horowitz, Menlo Ventures, First Round Capital, Baroda Ventures, ru-Net Technology Partners (RTP), Pinnacle Ventures, Izurium Capital, Docomo Capital, and Mayfield Fund.[27][28]

References
  1. Howarth, Dan (2015-03-03). "Fab acquired by PCH to create "the Netflix of design"". Dezeen. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
  2. John Furrier (2012-04-18). "How Fab.com Brainwashed Me Into Broadcasting What I Buy". Forbes. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  3. "Fab Promotes Maria Molland to Chief European Officer". betashop. Archived from the original on 2012-08-11. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  4. Bruning, Sarah (2012-07-31). "Cool NYC companies: Behind-the-scenes office tour of Fab". Timeout.com. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  5. "5 Big Fab Announcements". Jason Goldberg. Archived from the original on 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  6. Penenberg, Adam L. (2012-05-16). "Fab.com: Ready, Set, Reset!". Fast Company. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  7. Ankeny, Jason (2011-10-18). "Fab Forward: How Fab.com Found a Niche in a Design Deal Social Hub". Entrepreneur.com. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  8. Courtney Boyd Myers (2011-11-14). "In just 5 months, Fab snags 1 million members". The Next Web. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  9. "Fab.com's fabulous pivot". The Wall Street Journal.
  10. Duryee, Adam L. (2012-09-13). "Fab.com No Longer for Members Only, as It Opens Up Site to All Visitors!". All Things D. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  11. Fiegerman, Seth (December 30, 2012). "Fab Passes 10 Million Members, Sells 5.4 Products Every Minute".
  12. Frier, Sarah. "Fab.com Cuts 101 Jobs as E-Commerce Site Aims to Turn Profit". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
  13. "Exclusive: All About Hem, Fab's New Home Store". Racked.com. 2014-09-29. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
  14. ""Fab Cofounder Bradford Shellhammer is Launching Design Sales Site Bezar" Fast Company". fastcompany.com. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
  15. Lydia Dishman (2012-04-18). "Absolutely Fab: Fab.com Buys FashionStake". Forbes. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  16. "Fab Buys Casacanda For $11M To Fight The Samwers In Europe". TechCrunch. 2012-02-20. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  17. "Fab.com Enters UK Market with Llustre Acquisition". Inc.com. 2012-06-19. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  18. Juhana Rossi, "Fab Acquires One Nordic Furniture," The Wall Street Journal, June 18, 2014.
  19. "500,000 users in 10 weeks: what worked for Fab.com — Tech News and Analysis". Gigaom.com. 2011-08-16. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  20. "Fab.com Further Integrates Social Commerce With Inspiration Wall V2". betashop. Archived from the original on 2012-08-15. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  21. Alicia Eler (2011-12-16). "Fab.com: The Social Shopping Experiment That Actually Works". Readwriteweb.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-18. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  22. Delo, Cotton (2012-01-19). "Facebook Branches Out Past 'Likes' with 60 New Lifestyle Apps | Digital - Advertising Age". Adage.com. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  23. Leena Rao (2012-10-11). "Fab Reinvents iPhone And iPad Apps With Social Commerce, Streamlined UI, Search And More". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  24. "Design Sales Site Fab.com Hits 350,000 Members, Raises $8M To Celebrate". TechCrunch. July 26, 2011.
  25. "Fab.com, profitable at 6 weeks old, nabs an $8M Series A". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  26. Furman, Phyllis (December 8, 2011). "Fab.com scores $40 million in funding". New York Daily News.
  27. "Fab Just Raised $105 Million of New Financing to Help People Better Their Lives With Design". betashop. Archived from the original on 2012-08-22. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  28. "Monastyrsky, Zyuba, Stepanov & Partners - Moscow - Law Firm Profile - Chambers Europe 2017". Chambers and Partners. Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
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