Alven injects CHF 2.5m into Koala.ch

The GP currently invests from Alven Capital III, which closed on €100m in 2007. This is Alven's second transaction in Switzerland, following its investment in private sales website eBoutich.ch – which it sold last July, enabling it to reap in excess of 10x its money.

Alven was attracted by the quality and diversity of Koala's product range. It also believes the sale of shoes online to be a highly pertinent model, as demonstrated in the US, France and Germany.

Meanwhile, Koala's management chose to partner with Alven given the firm's focus on the internet sector and their experience working with similar e-commerce businesses over the years.

The fresh capital will notably be used to increase marketing investments and broaden Koala's product range.

Company
Founded in late 2010 by two former eBay employees, Koala.ch is an e-commerce business focusing exclusively on shoes. The brands it distributes include Timberland, Reebok, Geox, UGG and Nike.

The company cureently employs 11 staff and expects to post a turnover in excess of CHF 1m for 2011.

People
Guillaume Aubin and Charles Letourneur led the deal for Alven. Valentin Cogels and Matthias Frohlicher are co-founders of Koala.ch.

Advisers
Equity – Sarrau, Thomas Couderc (Legal); Cabinet Oderis (Financial due diligence).

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• DACH
• Expansion
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