Drest, a London-based mobile gaming company that merges the creative worlds of luxury fashion, beauty, and lifestyle with the metaverse, has successfully raised £15 million in funding. Founded in 2019 by Lucy Yeomans, former Editor-in-Chief of Porter, Net-A-Porter.com, and Harper’s Bazaar UK, Drest has now raised a total of £30 million and collaborates with over 260 renowned brands such as Gucci, Prada, and Cartier. The platform allows users to showcase and enhance their styling skills through hyper-realistic avatars, engaging in in-game challenges and creating user-generated content.
The digital fashion assortment includes offerings from Farfetch as well as directly from the brands, enabling players to discover, style, and shop the latest collections. Since its launch, Drest has recorded 250% year-on-year user growth and works directly with over 260 brands. The recent funding round was secured with the support of the family office of Drest Co-Founder and Co-Chair Graham Edwards. This investment will enable the company to build on its strong momentum and develop its new product proposition, Drest Game 2.0. The funding comes at a time when mobile gaming revenues reached $92.2 billion in 2022, accounting for 50% of the $184.4 billion global gaming market revenues.
It is estimated that the global gaming market will be worth $221 billion by 2025 (NewZoo). Lisa Bridgett, CEO at Drest, expressed her excitement about the secured investment and the company's plans to scale and offer a new one-of-a-kind experience to users while maintaining the core elements of the game. Drest aims to explore and enter the research and development phase for additional games within the Web3 and lifestyle space over the next 18 months.
As the luxury fashion and lifestyle industries show increasing interest in gaming, Drest is well-positioned to cater to this demand. The platform's success in raising £15 million in funding highlights its potential to revolutionize the retail landscape by integrating luxury fashion with the metaverse, offering users a unique and immersive experience that combines creativity, style, and gaming.
