Ready-to-wear fashion portal Modanisa.com today announced it has sold a minority stake to Goldman Sachs and Wamda Capital. The funds will be used to drive the Turkey-based modest fashion e-tailer’s global expansion plans. The investment round will be considered complete upon approvals from competition authorities.

This latest funding round in Modanisa.com – Turkey’s pioneering international e-commerce player – follows earlier investment in 2015 from Saudi Arabia’s STC Ventures, and UAE venture capital firm Wamda Capital, which first invested in Modanisa in 2016 and increases its stake in 2019. Modanisa’s founders retain control of the company.

As the global prime mover in the emerging modest fashion segment, Modanisa.com has enjoyed rapid growth since its launch in 2011. The Istanbul-headquartered business works with 650 designers and suppliers, the vast majority of them women entrepreneurs, who collectively produce 70,000 items that are sold via the e-commerce site to customers in 130 countries. In the past 12 months, Modanisa.com has had in excess of 150 million visitors as demand soars for stylish and affordable ready-to-wear modest fashion.

According to a recent report by Thomson Reuters, ‘State of the Global Islamic Economy’, the fashion sector in Muslim-majority states is worth $270 billion and is predicted to rise to $361 billion by 2023. Modanisa’s home territory Turkey remains the biggest Muslim market for fashion, with consumers spending $28 billion on fashion annually.

The investment from Goldman Sachs and Wamda Capital will be used primarily to expand Modanisa’s overseas operations. With exports already accounting for 80% of its business, new logistics centres in Europe and the Middle East will enable faster shipping times and simplify returns. The firm will also invest in strengthening its e-commerce substructure and is opening an office in London in 2019 to oversee its North American and European operations, as well as offices in Amsterdam and in the UAE in due course.