Lebanese-US online peer-to-peer (P2P) fashion marketplace Lemonade Fashion, has raised pre-seed investment from Draper University Ventures in San Francisco.

Now headquartered in the US, the startup was initially founded in 2018 in Lebanon by Arthur Bizdikian. The platform connects shoppers with designers, allowing users to browse through a wide variety of designer outfits and order personalised items. 

“Fashion will see some dramatic changes in a post-Covid-19 era, and the part of online shopping will increase rapidly. This will require solid platforms and technologies, but also a bigger understanding of the new market shift,” said Arthur Bizdikian, co-founder and CEO of Lemonade Fashion. “In this new world, trust will play a great factor; clients want to know who made their clothes, if they will fit them and if they have ever been worn before. Sustainability, quality, and price will greatly influence consumer behavior."

Lemonade Fashion has more than 50 designers listed on its platform and is currently working on developing its technical department in Yerevan.

The company intends to use the proceeds to develop its platform, improve user experience and expand its network of designers.

"We are building a strong development team based in Armenia, and our primary focus in parallel with satisfying business requirements is technical excellence. There is a lot of variance among designers, and our designer count roughly doubles every 4-6 months,” said Mohamad Baydoun, co-founder and chief technical officer (CTO) at Lemonade fashion.