The Financial Times and The Business of Fashion, the media start-up that has become an established read for the fashion and luxury sector, are forging ahead with a strategic partnership.
Imran Amed, founder, CEO & editor-in-chief of The Business of Fashion, personally addressed his readers on the partnership, saying it is more than a simple investment. “It will enable us to accelerate the growth of our global community, which currently numbers five million people in more than 190 countries around the world, including more than 600,000 e-mail subscribers, 35,000 paying members and over 500 corporate partners.”
The FT is leading BoF’s Series B funding round, investing alongside existing investors Index Ventures
and Felix Capital.
“As a team, we have always admired the FT’s commitment to high quality journalism, its global perspective and its pioneering business model rooted in digital subscriptions,” wrote Amed. “We regularly reference the FT as a benchmark in our editorial meetings, product meetings and commercial meetings. Now, this partnership will enable us to learn directly from the FT and work together to realize BoF’s mission and create the world’s largest community of fashion professionals.”
Amed said the partnership will enable BoF to invest in hiring the best talent in the world to deliver the best journalism on the global fashion industry.
The partnership will allow the two publications to compare and contrast subscription services in hopes of using key details to propel numbers forward on both sides.
FT currently has a paying readership of one million, with three quarters of that number subscribing to the publication’s own online subscription program.
While BoF is well-known for its analytical take on fashion news reporting, FT is no stranger to the industry either. Through its How to Spend Itmagazine and online vertical, FT compiles themed gift guides along with both celebrity and in-house product recommendations.
