Avelle, the luxury handbag rental service, said today that it plans to reinstitute the name Bag Borrow or Steal. The Seattle company also announced $4 million in fresh funding from Kuwait Holding Company and the Atelier Fund.
The company adopted the Avelle name in 2008 after it began an expansion into other product lines such as jewelry. But the name didn’t really catch on, and most customers continued to refer to it as Bag Borrow or Steal.
“A few years ago the company felt it had outgrown the name Bag Borrow or Steal,” CEO Russ Blain said. “However, fashionistas and customers never stopped calling us Bag Borrow or Steal so we listened and changed our name.”
Blain took control of the company earlier this year after a management shakeup that included the departure of CEO Mike Smith; Vice President of Creative and Online Experience Becky Gebhardt; Vice President of Operations Dave Martine and others.
The company had previously been backed by Madrona Venture Group, but the Seattle venture firm is not listed in the press release as a backer in the current round.
Founded in 2004, Bag Borrow or Steal often gets described as the “Netflix for Handbags” since it allows customers to rent high-end bags from Chanel; Chloe; Coach; Fendi; Gucci and others.
The company had previously raised about $37 million.
UPDATE: Madrona Venture Group did not participate in the latest venture capital round.
