Balderton Capital takes stake in online retailer Achica

Achica is a members-only site and aims to replicate the approach taken by fashion etailers such as Vente Privee, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Achica co-founder Quentin Griffiths, one of the original co-founders of Asos,  believes that the business model can be more successful in homewares than in fashion because of the slower trend cycle, which means that previous season’s stock is more likely to look current.

Griffiths has said previously that Achica could take a 5% share of the £10.7bn homewares market by 2015.

Balderton has a history of investing at an early stage in internet businesses. It was a backer of Lovefilm, the movie rental site bought by Amazon in January, and has a stake in My Wardrobe.

Griffiths was also formerly an investor in ethical fashion etailer Adili, which ended up being sold for £1 and Everything But the Music, which went into administration after he left.