Filipa Neto is co-founder and managing director of Chic by Choice, the fashion marketplace that allows European women to hire premium designer dresses at a fraction of retail price. She entered Portugal’s biggest entrepreneurial competition and against over 3,000 entrants, came second aged just 21. She subsequently secured £390,000 of seed investment for the Chic by Choice brand, alongside her co-founder Lara Vidreiro.
“…We had our first big victory at Portugal’s largest entrepreneurial competition, where we beat more than 3,000 contestants to take second place and which led to a £390,000 of seed funding investment…”
Taking the leap to start the entrepreneurial life
Taking the leap and deciding to start the entrepreneurial life to launch a business can be a daunting idea, but one that also stirs up a lot of excitement. My journey to create Chic by Choice, the luxury fashion rental system that is now in eight countries with 230,000 registered members, had many phases.
Democratising the luxury fashion industry – converting aspirational buyers into actual consumers
It all started two years ago when I was 21, living in my home country, Portugal. I observed with my university friend and co-founder Lara Vidreiro that women were spending huge amounts of money on fashion items that they might only wear once or twice.
We wanted to democratise the luxury fashion industry and saw that a rental platform held the powerful potential to market a luxury brand and convert aspirational buyers into actual consumers.
Beating off more the competition to win £390,000 of seed funding investment
We embarked on our voyage with six jam-packed months of 16-hour days to start our fundraising process and go from idea to the market. We had our first big victory at Portugal’s largest entrepreneurial competition, where we beat more than 3,000 contestants to take second place and which led to a £390,000 of seed funding investment.
Soon after, I decided to move from Lisbon to London, when we officially launched in June 2014, mostly due to the fact that with so many international business meetings, I had racked up enough frequent flyer miles that my head was starting to spin! We also realised it was crucial for our company’s success to be closer to our customers and to our partners; the brands and boutiques.
London: A city of inspiration
London has served as a welcoming new home for both us and our business and has filled me with much inspiration from London Fashion Week to top tech entrepreneurs in Tech City. We are currently in the process of securing a £3 million funds in the coming months to continue to provide women with the experience of luxury brands in a guilt free rental!
This year will be all about fashion partnerships, and extending our offering from simply dresses to handbags and jewellery. We’re also busy hiring across Europe so no doubt there’ll be even more flights, and less sleep, but luckily I thrive on adrenalin and energy!
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