Flont Is Changing How to Buy Fine Jewelry Online
Opening the doors to the masses, so to speak, is Flont, a new fine jewelry e-commerce site that is joining the luxury-on-loan bandwagon that includes fashion platforms Rent the Runway.
Flont is revolutionizing the fine jewelry experience — our members borrow something new every month, and keep what they love.
We carry thousands of jewels from designers like Bulgari, Cartier, and Tiffany & Co., and have exclusive partnerships with 30 leading designers. Now you can have an unlimited jewelry box, starting at $59 per month!
I was destined to launch Flont. I'm a software entrepreneur who became an unlikely brand president at Richemont (Cartier, Piaget, Montblanc, Van Cleef & Arpels). My wife, Mimi So, is an influential jewelry designer, with collectors around the world. We witnessed first hand that fine jewelry ($800 and up) does not sell online — because you need to try it!
Flont makes it easy to explore, wear, and enjoy fine jewelry. Select from four membership levels, choose a jewel from our curated collections, and wear it for a month! Discover new designers, be adventurous, and maybe find something to keep forever, at a great discount. 10% of our members buy a jewel they love within 3 months, and 100% Flont something new each month! Both Flont and our designers earn a profit, even if members never make a purchase. But when they do, the average sale has been over $3,500. Off the charts, for e-commerce transactions.
Discovery, and a new revenue channel, is fantastic for designers.
Designers are beating a path to our doors (overlooking Rockefeller Plaza). 30 brands are now exclusive to Flont. The brands provide the jewelry, and we provide the memberships, logistics, marketing and channel partners.
We started with Flont Fine, a $249/mo membership with manageable volume. We proved our model, developed our technology, insurance and logistics, and refined our brand partnerships. Then we made amenity deals with travel and apparel firms to offer Flont to thousands of users.
We just launched Flont Demi, a $59-119/month membership for $800 to $2,500 jewelry, and are scaling to support 100,000 members.
Flont has raised $2.4 million from influential investors including Carmen Busquets, the ex CEO of Revlon, the CMO of Google Asia, the CEO of Onward Luxury, the ex CMO of Coach, and 12 more). We have the best partner in Asia (Chow Tai Fook, a $7 billion jewelry retailer with 2,400 stores). Now you can invest in Preferred Shares just like the pros!
Flont is at the inflection point to begin major growth. My dream is for our clients and supporters to join us as investors. I hope you will contribute to, and profit from our growth.
- Cormac Kinney, Founder
Invest in our Preferred Stock, at $16 million pre-money valuation.
$0.80/share of Series CF Preferred Stock│When you invest you are betting the company’s future value will exceed $16.1M.
We are currently conducting a concurrent offering for accredited investors, investing over $50,000.
Perks
$640 — If you invest $640, you will receive a free 1 mo Flont Demi Membership.
$1,280 — If you invest $1,280, you will receive free 3 mo Flont Demi Membership.
$5,000 — If you invest $5,000, you will receive a free 1 mo Flont Fine Membership.
$10,000 — If you invest $10,000, you will receive a free 3 mo Flont Fine Membership.
$20,000 — If you invest $20,000, you will receive a free 3 mo Fine and 3 mo Demi Membership.
*All perks occur after the offering is completed.
For details on the bonus, please see the Offering Summary below.
- FORBES
Now you have an unlimited jewelry collection.
Select from 3 flavors:
From $59/mo
Borrow $800 to $2,500 jewels
for a month
From $239/mo
Borrow $2,500 to $7,000 jewels
for a month
From $290 per event
Borrow $7,000 to $300k jewels
for three days
Flont an unlimited jewelry collection.
For a low monthly price, you can borrow jewelry constantly from Bulgari, Cartier or Tiffany & Co., and dozens of global and artisan designer brands. Flont is a lifestyle, where you discover and enjoy new jewelry every month. And if you fall in love with a piece, keep it at the member price.
We started with only one offering — Flont Fine, a $239 membership to borrow $2,500 to $7,000 worth of 18K designer fine jewelry at a time. We have completed over 300 transactions since launch.
We just launched Flont memberships in five sizes, to fit every budget. You can Flont jewelry costing $800 to $7,000 all month long. Jewelry for events goes all the way up to $300,000, from brands like Hearts on Fire. We have signed up 18 new exclusive partners to supply jewelry. Insurance is included with Flont Fine and Flont Privé, and is optional for Flont Demi.
Our collection is highly curated by experts, and of course all of our jewelry is authentic, from the best designers. Most pieces are provided directly from the brands, and we also have an incredible collection of vintage pieces, sourced from leading estate buyers.
We ship our jewelry in a unique Flont case, and include a pre-paid return label. Jewelry sharing is better for the environment, by recycling. And real jewelry is better for the environment than fake fashion jewelry, which is made with lots of harmful chemicals. Even the Flont case is reusable, eliminating thousands of wasteful cardboard boxes!
We are ready.
Flont just completed its successful soft launch. Before investing in big infrastructure, our goal was to perfect a “product—market fit,” and build the team, technology, logistics and exclusive partnerships that will sustain long-term growth, and a competitive advantage, all on a limited budget.
We haven't spent a dime on advertising. When Flont was started last summer, we had to make a choice — invest in customer acquisition, or invest in long-term competitive advantages. We chose the latter, because we believe that a strategic approach will create the most value. If we built users quickly, without exclusivity, a well-funded competitor could take our place in the segment we've pioneered.
Now that Flont is positioned strategically, with a competitive advantage, we are ready to go after a large market and protect our turf.
Key Accomplishments
Flont NYC member lounge overlooking Rockefeller Plaza
Key Learnings
Flont jewelry display at a pop-up event for stylists in New York
Our founder is a software entrepreneur married to a top jewelry designer, Mimi So. In 2006, Richemont (the parent of Cartier), formed a joint venture with Mimi, and they asked Cormac to join as president. For three years, he helped open her stores around the world, met with hundreds of top retailers and thousands of customers, and hired 60 staff. After ten years learning from his wife, and three years inside Richemont, Cormac knows the jewelry business from the artisan and the global brand perspective.
This background and first-hand knowledge prepared us to solve the logistics challenge of jewelry sharing in a way that is supportive of brands, whether they are artisans like Mimi So or grand dames like Cartier.
We started small, first by hiring Brooke Magnaghi, a world-class jewelry editor with years of experience at W Magazine, WWD, and Vogue. While Cormac started building systems, Brooke approached jewelry artisans, ten of which agreed to join the Flont experiment in the first six months.
In a year since launch, we have completed hundreds of transactions and improved every process along the way. In addition to all of our custom technology, we built a vault and fulfillment department that prints personalized cards for every client; a quality assurance department to inspect each jewel coming and going; a workshop to clean, polish and repair every item before use; and a packing and shipping department.
Our lead investor is Carmen Busquets. She was the first investor in Net-a-Porter, Moda Operandi, Lyst, Farfetch and Glamsquad. Fashion fairy godmother!
We are a team of brilliant fashionistas and beautiful nerds
We love to work hard, have fun, and delight our clients. Together we have pioneered a new segment, high-touch e-commerce. Millennials prefer experience over ownership, and luxury items are at the top of the list. Our innovative model makes it possible — and our logistics make it happen.
We couldn't have done it without a ton of help from our early investors, who are fantastic advisors. In total, they include 11 CEOs and 3 CMOs!
We are supported by stellar investors
Our investors includes the former CEO of Revlon, CMO of Coach, the CMO of Google Asia, the CEO of Onward Luxury Group, the ex CMO of Neiman Marcus, ex President of Coca-Cola, the CEO of Luxury Institute, and the original investor in Net-a-Porter, Moda Operandi, Lyst, Far Fetch, and Glamsquad, and executives from Ritz-Carlton, Bergdorf Goodman, Avon, Cartier, Macquarie and Lord & Taylor. Plus Adrian Cheng and the C Ventures team.
The Flont Asia team visiting New York, preparing to launch in Hong Kong
Flont New York team preparing to launch LA pop-up store
Flont is building a global brand
Chow Tai Fook is our fantastic partner in Asia, with over 2,400 fine jewelry stores. They are opening beautiful Flont lounges in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Together we are launching the Flont service in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Macao and Singapore, with service counters in hundreds of locations. Flont (meaning our investors) own 38% of this exciting joint venture.
Your timing is perfect.
You are just in time to join 20 of the most sophisticated consumer products and fashion tech investors. You can be part of our first preferred stock investment round.
Flont has a great team, world-class technology, incredible partners, and an experienced leader who has launched five startups which were acquired by public companies or private equity funds. He wants our true fans and supporters to be among our investors, in preferred stock that VCs want.
Flont is at the inflection point, ready for rapid, global growth. We have tested, refined and proved our model and platform, and are ready to scale. Consumers are clamoring for jewelry as a service. They want the luxury experience, without the financial commitment.
We have current and pending channel partnerships that can drive tens of thousands of clients to Flont. We have built and tested our infrastructure, the QA, repair, vault, and fulfillment — all in miniature. All we need is capital to expand our capacity, and begin operating at scale.
As the pioneer of high-touch e-commerce, with global partnerships and dozens of exclusives, Flont should be an attractive acquisition for many large companies — e-commerce platforms, luxury e-commerce sites, luxury conglomerates.
The world is ready to Flont!
The Flont leadership and our superstar investors
Opening the doors to the masses, so to speak, is Flont, a new fine jewelry e-commerce site that is joining the luxury-on-loan bandwagon that includes fashion platforms Rent the Runway.
How it works: The concept is brilliant. Members (for $299 per month) have unlimited access to Flont’s entire fine jewelry collection, which means you can borrow as frequently as you like! The Verdict: Perfect for all of the jewelry lovers out there.”
Those who have dreamed of owning Elizabeth Taylor–like gems while wearing dresses fit for royalty were in luck earlier this week as Armarium and Flont hosted an intimate trunk show and pop-up in San Francisco. Flont allows members to rent fine jewelry for occasions.
Flont Strives to Shake Up High-End Jewelry with Sharing Model. Founder Cormac Kinney has been cited in more than 1,500 patents and has raised about $500 million in capital for various companies in his 25-year career. He airm to help brands cash in on the sharing economy.
Between consignment e-tailers and luxury-label rental sites, consumers are approaching designer fashion with a whole new mentality. Luxury is changing—and changing for the more value-centric consumers who are much greater in number than pure luxury products.
The Hong Kong-based entrepreneur invested in Flont, and is partnering with financier Clive Ng to foster a 'cultural ecosystem' of brands targeting Millennials and Gen Z in the West and China
Flont, a New York-based “Jewelry as a Service” platform, raised $5 million in funding. Investors include C Ventures.
This Startup Is Like Rent the Runway for Actual Diamonds. Flont definitely sounded too good to be true. Airbnb has changed the way we travel, Uber and Zipcar have changed the way we get around, and designer rental service Rent the Runway has changed the way we fill our closets.
Flont, the venture-backed online jewelry startup that lets members rent fine jewelry from major brands, is building out its stable of top-flight brands. Members can borrow jewelry pieces from the collection valued at up to $7,500.
Dream Jewels Made Accessible. Don't just lust after red-carpet baubles. A $299-a-month Flont membership gains access to a bevy of borrowable fine jewelry from Bulgari, Chopard, and Tiffany & Co.
JCK’s exclusively learned that the e-tailer—which lets its members rent high-end fine jewelry with the option of buying pieces at discounted rates—is introducing a curated collection of event and red carpet jewelry, Flont Privé, with diamond jewelry brand Hearts On Fire at its center.
Flont, as the company is called, was founded last year and has just completed its first successful funding round. The startup allows customers to rent fine jewelry on a rolling basis, returning them when they are done or buying the piece if they like it.
For a monthly subscription of $249, users have access to a robust catalog of luxury jewelry they can rent for up to 30 days at a time, or purchase. Kinney gained the trust of esteemed artisan designers. Flont has become a powerful platform for emerging jewelry designers.
Jewelry rental start-up Flont announced this morning that it has added an entry-point membership tier to its service that targets consumers just starting to build out their collection of fine jewelry.
Flont's try and buy jewelry service is here to give you a sneak peek at what owning fine jewelry will be like in order to give you a leg up on deciding what should be added to your collection.
Adrian Cheng Plans China Rollout for Flont, Moda Operandi Flont's latest $12 million fundraising round, led by the entrepreneur, will fuel its expansion to more than 50 locations in China.
Moissanite jewelry brand Charles & Colvard announced this morning that it’s partnering with jewelry rental service Flont.
Maximum 133,750* shares of Preferred Stock ($107,000)
*Maximum subject to adjustment for bonus shares. See 10% Bonus below
Minimum 12,500 shares of Preferred Stock ($10,000)
Company | Flont, Inc. |
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Corporate Address | 22 W. 48th St., Suite 902, New York NY 10036 |
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Description of Business | Fine jewelry memberships, rentals and sales |
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Type of Security Offered | Series CF Preferred Stock |
| |
Purchase Price of Security Offered | $0.80 |
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Minimum Investment Amount (per investor) | $320 |
Perks
$640 — free 1 mo Flont Demi Membership.
$1,280 — free 3 mo Flont Demi Membership.
$5,000 — free 1 mo Flont Fine Membership.
$10,000 — free 3 mo Flont Fine Membership.
$20,000 — free 3 mo Fine and 3 mo Demi Membership.
*All perks occur after the offering is completed.
The 10% Bonus for StartEngine Shareholders
Flont, Inc. will offer 10% additional bonus shares for all investments that are committed by StartEngine Crowdfunding Inc. shareholders (with ≥ $1,000 invested in the StartEngine Reg A+ campaign) within 24 hours of this offering going live.
StartEngine shareholders who have invested $1,000+ in the StartEngine Reg A+ campaign will receive a 10% bonus on this offering within a 24-hour window of their campaign launch date. This means you will receive a bonus for any shares you purchase. For example, if you buy 100 shares of Series CF Preferred Stock at $0.80 / share, you will receive 10 Series CF Preferred Stock bonus shares, meaning you'll own 110 shares for $80. Fractional shares will not be distributed and share bonuses will be determined by rounding down to the nearest whole share.
This 10% Bonus is only valid for one year from the time StartEngine Crowdfunding Inc. investors receive their countersigned StartEngine Crowdfunding Inc. subscription agreement.
A crowdfunding investment involves risk. You should not invest any funds in this offering unless you can afford to lose your entire investment. In making an investment decision, investors must rely on their own examination of the issuer and the terms of the offering, including the merits and risks involved. These securities have not been recommended or approved by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority. Furthermore, these authorities have not passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this document. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not pass upon the merits of any securities offered or the terms of the offering, nor does it pass upon the accuracy or completeness of any offering document or literature. These securities are offered under an exemption from registration; however, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has not made an independent determination that these securities are exempt from registration.
Oliver Chen, CFA, Head of Retailing/Specialty Stores:
"Cowen believes Flont is disrupting the traditional jewelry industry by reshaping how consumers buy jewelry online. In our view, Flont is uniquely positioned given: (1) the sharing economy is bringing a fundamental shift in consumer consumption and Flont benefits from this shift in trend; (2) Flont offers a curated jewelry collection comprised of +40 exclusive brand partnerships, and carries brands such as Bvlgari, Cartier, Tiffany's, as well as +65 artisan brands; (3)~10% of members end up purchasing jewelry they have rented in the first three months with an average ticket of ~$4,000; (4) there is minimal inventory risk as jewelry inventory is owned by brand partners who earn a revenue share on each rental plus benefit from awareness growth and sales; and (5) Flont provides a comprehensive global insurance policy in place to provide coverage to all members.
Our view is that Flont has exciting growth opportunities ahead both domestically and internationally through strategic partnerships, such as Chow Tai Fook and Inspirato, to grow its membership base from 10,000 to +100,000. Additionally, Flont is in the process of formulating partnerships with jewelry retailers and department stores. We believe having Flont membership counters at department stores can be an effective traffic driver for department stores and a prudent way for Flont to grow its membership base and acquire new supply."
This week, Charles & Colvard, (NASDAQ:CTHR) a public jewelry company, announced a multi-year exclusive strategic partnership with Flont!
See: JCK Magazine | NASDAQ
-Cormac
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