Facebook may have the generalist, mass-market social network on lockdown, but when it comes to communities based around special interests, the playing field remains full of promise. Today, a U.K. startup called LoveCrafts, aimed at knitters and other home craft makers with a platform that is part social network and part e-commerce marketplace, is announcing a significant growth round of £26 million ($33 million) to seize that opportunity — expanding into new categories and doubling down on international growth, according to an interview with CEO and co-founder Edward Griffith.
The Series C, led by new investor Scottish Equity Partners, is the largest VC investment in a U.K. startup so far this year (the U.K. market, as you can see, is a little more conservative than the U.S.).
Others participating in this round include previous investors Balderton and Highland Europe. The valuation is not being disclosed, both Griffith and LoveCrafts’ investors told me, except to note that it is “north of £100 million.” Total raised by the company to date is £43 million ($55 million in today’s currency) on revenues of “tens of millions.”
Knitting and home crafting may not sound like particularly lucrative categories for e-commerce when you compare them to the world of already completed garments, whether that’s fashion retail based around designer labels or big brands or more bespoke items à la Etsy or Modcloth.
However, this is misguided: Knitting and crochet alone, without considering sewing or other home crafts, is a multibillion dollar business, just when considering the revenues of the three biggest brick-and-mortar stores serving this market in the U.S.: Jo-Ann, Hobby Lobby and…