Chronext, a luxury watch trading business based in Germany, has secured $65 million of funding, the company announced today.
The finance will go towards accelerating the growth of its certified pre-owned watch business and shore up its path to profitability.
The latest funding round was led by Slingshot Ventures, who joined existing investors Partech, Endeit Capital, Tengelmann Ventures, Octopus Ventures, Capnamic and NRW.Bank as new shareholders.
The new investment covers debt and equity components and enables Chronext to focus on achieving profitability, a statement from the company says.
Sales rose by 86% in 2019, the statement continues, as the business grew partnerships directly with watch manufacturers that now sell on the Chronext platform, and with certified pre-owned watches. It claims to have sold more than 50,000 watches in the seven years since it launched in 2013.
“The evolution in the luxury watch market has only just begun,” says Philipp Man, CEO and co-founder of Chronext. “The certified pre-owned market is by far the fastest growing segment in the $80 billion luxury watch market, especially for millennials,” adds.
As well as finance, Amsterdam-based venture capitalist Slingshot Ventures brings considerable expertise in brand building and growing e-commerce businesses.
“We are very excited about Slingshot Ventures joining our existing shareholder base. They have many years of experience in scaling up e-commerce companies and expertise that will help us to consolidate our brand as the leading platform in the certified pre-owned segment. As we continue to grow, especially in the pre-owned segment, our focus on working directly with luxury watch manufacturers and with their retail partners has given us a unique selling proposition in the industry to achieve sustainable profitability,” Mr Man says.
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