True&Co., an e-commerce company founded with the mission of disrupting the lingerie industry by creating a new business model for selling bras and other undergarments, has been sold. Phillips Van Heusen (PVH), owner of Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Izod, among other iconic brands, has acquired the startup and plans to use it to move deeper into online sales and big data analytics connected to that.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but an industry source claims it was a firesale, with investors getting some but not all of their money back. True&Co had raised just under $13 million from a strong list of investors that included Crosslink Capital, Cowboy Ventures, First Round, SoftBank, SoftTech VC and the VTF (fomerly the Vegas Tech Fund).
We’ve reached out to PVH — which has operations in 40 countries and last year made $8 billion in annual revenues — to see if we can get any details or confirmation on the price. We have yet to hear back from PVH. Michelle Lam, the co-founder and CEO of the company, replied to our questions with a short description of today as “an amazing day for the company.” A True&Co spokesperson declined to give any details on the price but did confirm that the brand would remain.
In the meantime, PVH’s CEO and chairman, Emanuel Chirico, noted in a statement that the deal underscores the company’s interest in doing more on digital platforms.
“Today’s announcement illustrates our commitment to driving innovation across our business and demonstrates…