Black Tux Raises $25 Million to Grow Online Tux Rentals

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Just nine months after raising a $10 million Series A round, Santa Monica online tuxedo rental operation Black Tux closed a $25 million Series B round.

The round was led by Stripes Group, with participation from First Round Capital, Lerer Hippeau Ventures and Menlo Ventures. The tuxedo rental service has raised more than $40 million in venture capital since its founding in 2013.

Black Tux operates completely online, renting and shipping tuxedos via its website starting at prices starting at about $100 apiece. Wedding rentals make up 60 percent to 70 percent of the company’s business, with holidays and high school prom making up the rest, said co-founder Andrew Blackmon. He wouldn’t disclose how many rentals the company has issued, but said the number is in the hundreds of thousands.

In addition to operating exclusively online, Black Tux claims it has been able to keep costs down and quality up by sourcing its own wool and partnering with a textile manufacturer in Italy to make its own line of suits.

“When we started this we felt that quality was the big thing lacking from the industry,” said Blackmon. “By owning that entire supply chain we are able to give customers much higher quality than they’d expect from a normal rental store.”

To meet what it sees as growing demand, the Black Tux’s latest round of financing will be used to buy up more tuxedo and suit inventory, expand to a new warehouse in Gardena and open an operations office on the East Coast. It will also ramp up its marketing efforts. The company plans to double its employee count to 140 in the next 18 months.

Technology reporter Garrett Reim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @garrettreim for the latest in L.A. tech news.

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