Black-Owned Fashion Start-Up Autumn Adeigbo Raises Nearly $3 Million To Expand Business

Autumn Adeigbo has gone from a one-woman show to a team of four, increased revenue by 400 percent, and attracted attention from A-list stars including Mindy Kaling, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kerry Washington.

A year and a half ago, she raised $1.3 million in investments and set up shop in Los Angeles.

Now Adeigbo, who is known for her bright designs and women’s ready-to-wear, just secured funds of nearly $3 million, led by venture capital firm Offline Ventures. This brings her total investments to more than $4 million.

Brit Morin, the general partner at Offline Ventures and founder of digital lifestyle platform Brit + Co, said: “More than just creating chic, colorful clothing, Autumn is creating a movement tied to sustainability, design, and culture.

“Never before has the world seen a multibillion-dollar fashion label from a young Black woman, but we believe that Autumn Adeigbo has the x-factor to be the first. Investing in a fashion brand is controversial in the venture capital world, but it was never a question for me to invest in Autumn. She’s a true artist with a business that is on fire.”

The designer hopes to use the funds to set up a permanent office space in New York and potentially expand into other fashion products.

Speaking exclusively to WWD, the designer said: “I’m always talking to people about additional collaborations and additional realms of creativity. But I really do just want to focus on getting the operational side of the business up to speed,” Adeigbo said. “We grew so much faster than I thought. We met our revenue goals for this year in June [2021].

“So, I don’t want to grow so fast that we can’t keep up. I don’t want to say we’re slowing down. But we are focusing on getting the brand operationally sound for the rest of the year with this new round of capital.”