The startup’s new wholesale business, dubbed The Folklore Connect, will link luxury fashion brands in emerging markets to bulk retailers in North America and, later, Europe.
The e-commerce company, which was founded in 2018 by Amira Rasool, previously sourced, shipped and handled last-mile delivery to customers in 20 countries including the U.S. — which, however, didn’t allow it to grow fast enough. A spike in demand for the fashion and lifestyle products they sold also hastened the startup’s shift to wholesale.
Rasool told TechCrunch that The Folklore has experienced over 100% year-on-year growth in sales since launch. She anticipates greater growth for the partner fashion brands and the group following the new business pathway and funding.
“The Folklore Connect is our primary product moving forward and it is where we’re going to be focusing up to 95% of our resources, energy and funds. We are developing our technology and building a sales team. We have brought in an amazing head of engineering and a brand and retail partnerships director to build our sales and customer success teams, both on the continent (Africa) and in the U.S.,” CEO Rasool said.
The startup is also rolling out a new marketplace to be an affiliate partner of fashion brands or platforms, as well as The Folklore Edit, an online media site that will carry stories on fashion.
