The Ukrainain Internet store Topmall.ua has raised half a million US dollars and spent a part of the funding to relaunch Polish e-commerce site Merlin.pl, which shut down in late 2015.
The round of financing, which took place in February, has just been revealed by Ukrainian tech blog AIN.UA. Neither the terms of the deal nor even the identity of the investors have been disclosed.
Topmall launched in 2013, backed by Ukrainian fund TA Ventures, with the stated goal of becoming the leading Ukrainian fashion e-commerce company.
In October 2014, Topmall agreed a media-for-equity transaction with broadcasting group company StarLightMedia. As reported by Ukraine Digital News, StarLightMedia committed itself to provide Topmall.ua with concessional TV advertising on its sites valued at $3.2 million. In exchange, the media-holding firm was to receive equity in the startup.
Amid the crisis that hit the Ukrainian e-commerce market, Topmall underwent significant changes in 2015, moving its operations to Poland — but still serving Ukrainian online consumers from there.
The Topmall team regards the relaunch of Merlin.pl as an opportunity to play a significant role on the Polish e-commerce market, notes AIN.UA.
