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Bits & Bytes | Rent the Runway, Rocket Internet, Amazon in Shanghai

Bits & Bytes is a weekly roundup of the most important news in the fast evolving fashion-tech space.
Rent the Runway autumn dress picks | Source: Rent the Runway
By
  • Lisa Wang

"How Mixing Data And Fashion Can Make Rent The Runway Tech's Next Billion Dollar Star" (Forbes)
"Rent The Runway's Jennifer Hyman hooked millennials on catch-and-release couture, but the logistics platform she built is sophisticated enough to dominate the sharing economy. Buzzing around Hyman's cubbyhole-chic office in an old printing building in lower Manhattan are 280 employees with a strange blend of talents: data scientists, fashion stylists, app developers, apparel merchandisers. It's as if MIT and FIT threw a mixer."

"Samwer Brothers Reshuffle Ahead of Rocket IPO" (The Financial Times)
"The Samwer brothers, who control the German online investment vehicle Rocket Internet, have reshuffled their complex portfolio of start-up holdings and raised extra cash ahead of an IPO planned for later this year. After the injection of an extra €588m, Rocket's overall valuation will rise to €4.3bn, according to details released on Friday."

"How Rocket Internet's Dafiti is Helping to Shape the Future of E-Commerce in Latin America" (The Next Web)
"Fashion e-commerce portal Dafiti is undoubtedly one of Latin America's most interesting companies to watch. Take a close look at it, and you'll see so many of the trends that have shaped e-commerce in the region. On one hand, you have MBA-equipped, foreign-born founders keen to bring known models to Latin American buyers, with a tremendous amount of funding to support their plans. On the other, a diverse group of countries whose reality made more than one Internet company stumble."

"Amazon in Shanghai E-Commerce Pact" (BBC)
"Amazon's branch in China has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Shanghai FTZ and Shanghai Information Investment Limited (SII). The deal paves the way for Amazon to bring millions of its e-commerce product offerings from around the world directly to Chinese customers."

"The Newsletter That Became a $100M Business Selling Stuff to Dudes" (Wired)
"Basically, it's a vast network of blogs and email newsletters that will tell you what (very trendy) stuff you want and then shuttle you to an e-commerce operation where you can buy that stuff. In some cases, Thrillist even manufactures the goods it sells. Melding content to commerce, the service creates a potentially perfect—if vaguely insidious—circle of materialism."

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