TOTSY Announces $18.5M Series B Funding

NEW YORK, July 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- TOTSY (www.TOTSY.com), a leading private sale site exclusively dedicated to delivering deals on must-haves for parents, babies and kids, announced the close of its Series B round of financing for $18.5 million.

TOTSY will use the proceeds of the Series B to continue to propel user acquisition, increase sales and expand operational capacity. Existing investors financed the Series B round, with Rho Ventures leading and DFJ Gotham participating. In connection with the financing, Managing Partner Habib Kairouz of Rho Ventures will join the TOTSY Board of Directors.

"We're very pleased to be continuing on with our existing investors, Rho Ventures and DFJ Gotham. Their lasting confidence in TOTSY is a great source of pride for us and we look forward to working closely with them to achieve another stellar year," comments Guillaume Gauthereau, Co-founder and CEO of TOTSY.

Christophe Garnier, Co-founder, President and CMO of TOTSY states, "This round of financing will be very instrumental in expanding strategic industry relationships and supporting the growth of our member base. The team at TOTSY is excited to meet the new opportunities, goals and challenges that this new round will bring."

Since TOTSY's Series A financing, the company has cemented its position as a leading private sale site serving parents with young children, achieving over 125% growth in net revenue from H1 of 2011 to H1 of 2012. Now, with approximately 3 million active users and the highest social media engagement rate on Facebook among all private sale sites across categories, TOTSY has been recognized as one of the fastest growing digital media companies in the U.S. In the past year, the company has been named as one of Forbes's Most Promising American Companies, one of AlwaysOn's OnMedia Top 100 Private Companies, and a NY regional finalist for the Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award. TOTSY continues its commitment to being the only green private sale site in the world by maintaining the corporate social responsibility practices applied at the company's founding and planting a tree for each family that shops on the site.

"TOTSY has become an indispensable solution for many specialty product brands as a national distribution and marketing hub, as well as for the parents that seek those products at the best price point," notes Habib Kairouz, Managing Partner of Rho Ventures. "The team at TOTSY did a remarkable job in executing on the concept and built a widely respected and trusted brand. We look forward to supporting the company's continued success."

"We are thrilled with TOTSY's success to date and are very excited about the company's future," says Danny Schultz, Managing Director of DFJ Gotham Ventures.  "Our 'Moms' are incredibly loyal and engaged and are at the core of our future growth, particularly for the new lines of business we will be launching."

About TOTSY

Headquartered in New York, TOTSY is a privately held company dedicated to providing its members with access to essential products and brands designed for expecting moms, parents, babies and kids at sample sale prices. Shopping events are designer-specific and held over a 72 hour period. Membership is free of charge and by invitation only. For more information, please visit www.TOTSY.com.

About Rho Ventures

For nearly 30 years, Rho Ventures has been investing in leading edge, high growth companies at multiple stages of growth spanning early, venture-stage investments to later stage, growth equity transactions. Rho has participated in the growth of some of today's most innovative and successful companies, including Ciena, Capstone Turbine, Compaq Computer, EverdayHealth, Intralinks, iVillage, ReachLocal, Tacoda, Tripod, and Yantra. Rho Ventures is currently investing from Rho Ventures VI, a $510 million fund. The firm has offices in New York City, Palo Alto and Montreal, with investments across the globe. For more information, please visit www.rho.com. 

About DFJ Gotham

DFJ Gotham Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm based in New York City focused primarily on digital and social media, financial technology, e-commerce, mobile and infrastructure startups. DFJ Gotham Ventures partners with extraordinary teams of entrepreneurs to build strong and successful businesses that make a huge impact in their industries. A member of the DFJ network of funds, DFJ Gotham Ventures takes pride in being an active partner, leveraging its experience, knowledge and relationships to provide substantial value to its portfolio companies. For more information, please visit www.dfjgotham.com.

SOURCE TOTSY