MILAN, May 24 (Class Editori) – Stamp's tax free shopping attracts Chinese and European capital. The startup founded by the Michele and Stefano Fontolan brothers (formerly in Airbnb and Uber respectively), Federico Deangelis (from Suitsupply) and Wagner Eleuteri raised 1.4 million dollars from a funding round led by Btov Partners and from the venture capital firm ZhenFund. The Beijing fund is one of the major companies in the sector in China, with 800 startups between the East and the United States (including 21 unicorns, that are companies with over 1 billion dollars in valuation). The one in Stamp is the first investment in Europe.
Tax free shopping exempts international tourists from paying VAT on purchased goods. Globally, the market is worth about 60 billion dollars. 80% of expenditure is concentrated mainly in Europe and Italy, together with France, is the country where it is more widespread. As for the Chinese, "they represent around 40% of consumers, with a growing trend", explains Stefano Fontolan. A figure also dictated by the high digitization rate of Chinese purchasing habits. As the founder of ZhenFund, Bob Xu, points out, the current system "does not meet the needs of Asian customers".
The solution studied by the Stamp app, a kind of premium service with three possible choices, is in fact a digitalization and a simplification of the procedures that allow the customer to get a part of VAT refunded when leaving the country. Nowadays, procedures are slow, paper-based, and they involve going to offices many times and costs in commissions that can fluctuate between 30% and 50% of the VAT. Moreover, the market is dominated by a few players. "We can call it a duty-free 'in the city'," adds Fontolan.
"We will work together to transform our premium service into the new standard for international travelers – on which luxury retailers now depend – and for European merchants, who suffer a dramatic lack of services up to date. For example, it is estimated that in the Montenapoleone fashion district in Milan 85% of customers come both from the international and non-EU countries". As for the resources collected, they will be used for European expansion. In a few weeks the startup will head to Austria.
(Source:Class Editori)
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A single purchase
