Serena Capital leads £10m round for WorldStores

The new capital will be used to expand the company's product line, as well as grow its supplier network.

Serena was attracted to WorldStores because of its rapid growth rate. The firm typically invests €3-8m in the technology sector, predominantly in France but occasionally within the rest of Europe. Last month Serena took part in a $13m series-C round for French software firm BonitaSoft.

Balderton tends to make an initial investment of $5m and inject a further $10m over the course of its holding period. Recent transactions include last month's $10.7m injection into Urturn alongside a $2.7m investment from Debiopharm Group's private equity arm.

Previous funding
Balderton first invested in WorldStores in 2009. Balderton and Advent then injected £8.5m into the company in 2011 – WorldStores' management team retained a majority shareholding.

Company
WorldStores was founded in 2006 and is based in Twickenham. The company operates 70 niche websites that cater to a specific home furnishing product, such as CoffeeTablesWorld.co.uk and RowingMachinesWorld.co.uk. It offers 500,000 products across its collection of specialist sites.

WorldStores saw a turnover of approximately £60m for 2012 and is expecting an increase to £75m this year. The company employs 200 staff.

People
Joe Murray and Richard Tucker are co-chief executives of WorldStores. Marc Fournier is a managing partner at Serena and will join WorldStores' board as a non-executive director. Mike Chalfen, a general partner at Advent, already sits on WorldStores' board as a non-executive director alongside Balderton partner Mike Evans.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Expansion
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• United Kingdom
• Balderton Capital
• Advent Venture Partners
• Serena Capital