Gilt Groupe

Gilt Groupe

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	E-commerce
Founded	2007
Founders	Kevin P. Ryan Dwight Merriman Alexis Maybank Alexandra Wilkis Wilson Michael Bryzek Phong Nguyen
Headquarters	New York, N.Y., USA
Key people	Jonathan Greller (President) Kristen Sosa (Chief Merchant)
Owner	Hudson's Bay Company
Number of employees	More than 1000
Website	gilt.com

Gilt is an online shopping and lifestyle website based out of the United States. Gilt Groupe was launched in 2007 by five founders. At one time valued at over $1 billion on paper, the company was eventually sold to Hudson's Bay Company for approximately $250 million, which was far lower than the total obtained from its investors. Prior to the Hudson’s Bay acquisition, sales were exceeding growth projections but Gilt Groupe had not been profitable yet.

Gilt Groupe is based in New York, N.Y. with warehouses in Brooklyn, New York, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Louisville, Kentucky.

Founder Kevin P. Ryan modeled Gilt after Vente-Privee, an online fashion retailer in France. Ryan then recruited Mike Bryzek, Phong Nguyen, Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson to the original team. Gilt's original business of "flash sales," selling a limited number of luxury designer items at steep discounts for brief periods, made it an immediate hit.

The company launched women's clothing and accessories in November 2007 and menswear in April 2008. The company added Gilt Groupe Japan in February 2009, Gilt Fuse in August 2009, and travel site Jetsetter in September 2009. Gilt later added, Gilt City in April 2010, Gilt Home in May 2010 and Gilt Taste in 2011 completed the flurry of brand expansion. In 2012, the company launched a partnership with Jason Binn's upmarket lifestyle magazine, DuJour.

In 2009, growth equity firm General Atlantic led a series C funding round, joined by previous investor Matrix Partners. General Atlantic’s managing director, Anton Levy, joined the board of directors. By February 2014, Gilt Groupe was preparing for an IPO.