American Eagle Leads $3.45M Investment In Dormify

American Eagle Leads $3.45M Dormify Investment

Dormify announced a $3.45 million Series A investment led by American Eagle Outfitters.

Founded by Amanda Zuckerman and her mom Karen in 2012, Dormify offers college students and post-grads tools, resources and products to create their first home away from home.

“We are thrilled to have the support of AEO as Dormify continues to build the ultimate destination for college and small spaces,” Amanda Zuckerman, Dormify’s 27-year-old co-founder and creative director, said in a press release. “This investment will allow us to continue to make our mark within the back-to-college industry, and through our strong partnership with American Eagle, Dormify will have the opportunity to connect with even more students across the country.”

This new funding is a continuation of a nearly three-year partnership between the Dormify and AEO. Dormify will use the investment to scale talent, expand pop-up locations and enhance the online experience.

“Expanding into additional lifestyle categories has been in direct response to strong customer demand, and our American Eagle and Dormify collaboration was an exciting addition to our online apartment shop,” said Chad Kessler, American Eagle global brand president. “We’re pleased to continue the partnership, with our commitment signaling our confidence in Dormify, the leadership team and a shared vision of the future growth opportunity.”

Dormify will launch an even more personalized online shopping experience that allows their millennial and Gen Z customers to easily visualize and decorate their future spaces. It will also be opening additional pop-up locations in spring 2019 to coincide with college decision day, and the company will continue to scale their “Dormifam” on-campus ambassador program to stay engaged with their college following.

The company was able to amass its loyal customer base through email marketing. Two years ago, the New York-based e-tailer revealed that it had seen a 92 percent increase in revenue from email marketing and doubled its web conversion rate.

“Before you can market effectively to a younger audience in particular, you need to establish a solid brand and product offering that will appeal to them,” said its then-CMO Nicole Gardner. “We worked hard in our initial stages of the business to establish a voice that appeals to our audience base coupled with compelling, high-quality products.”