Vancouver’s Monos has closed a $10 million Series A funding round led by venn growth partners with significant participation by Strand Equity.
Monos offers premium travel luggage and accessories in timeless designs at accessible prices, unmatched within the industry, without sacrificing high-quality material and aesthetic. The brand has gained organic national recognition from consumers, media and top designers, including award-winning accolades for the brand’s signature carry-on by the A’ Design awards.
The Series A fundraise will bring both capital – to be invested towards expanding Monos’ offline presence, recruiting talent and building a robust product development pipeline – and expertise and support from leading consumer investors venn and Strand.
The Series A fundraise follows incredible growth for Monos in 2020 despite unprecedented challenges across the broader travel industry.
After Monos completed its highest-ever grossing month in February of 2020, sales momentum ground to a halt as the COVID-19 pandemic spread nationwide in March.
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Moving quickly to address the slowdown in sales, the brand shifted resources into developing a new, highly relevant product – the CleanPod UVC Sterilizer, which uses a high-energy beam of ultraviolet C light to effectively sanitize surfaces – and brought the new innovation to market in just six weeks.
This successful pivot earned Monos valuable unpaid media coverage and allowed the brand to capture market share at a time when travel competitors were dialing back marketing efforts, driving 400% year-over-year revenue growth in 2020.
Monos has continued this impressive upward trajectory and profitability in 2021, and with the newly raised capital will further expedite this growth.
“Finding like-minded investors who share the same values is no easy task but we were fortunate to find two outstanding partners in venn and Strand,” said Victor Tam, Monos’ CEO and Co-founder.
“After a groundbreaking year, during a pandemic no less, we are thrilled for the opportunity to continue expanding, innovating and creating an engaging brand experience for our consumers with the support of this investment.”
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