Olivela

About Olivela

Olivela operates as an online luxury fashion and beauty retailer distinguished by its philanthropic business model. The company markets products from over 400 high-end brands, including clothing, accessories, cosmetics, and footwear. A core component of its value proposition is the donation of 20% of net proceeds from every sale to charitable partners at no extra cost to the customer or the brands.

The company's inception traces back to a 2016 trip by founder and CEO Stacey Boyd to Dadaab, Kenya, with Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai. During this trip to the world's largest refugee camp, Boyd had an epiphany while reaching for her phone: a fraction of the cost of her luxury handbag could fund a year of schooling for one of the girls she met. This realization was the catalyst for creating a retail platform that integrates charitable giving into every transaction. Boyd, a Harvard MBA and Public Policy graduate with a background as a teacher, school principal, and founder of the social enterprise Schoola, leveraged her experience to launch Olivela in 2017.

Olivela's business model is designed to be financially sustainable by embedding philanthropy into its core operations. The association with charitable causes generates positive publicity, which helps to reduce overall marketing expenditures. This strategy has attracted support from celebrities and enabled partnerships with hundreds of luxury brands like Valentino, Jimmy Choo, and Stella McCartney. The company primarily generates revenue through its e-commerce platform and has experimented with physical retail through pop-up shops and permanent boutiques in locations like Nantucket and Aspen.

Customers are drawn to Olivela for both its curated selection of luxury goods and its social mission. At checkout, shoppers can select from a wide range of cause partners focused on pillars such as gender equality, health and wellness, and climate action. The platform provides transparency by showing the tangible impact of each purchase. The company has successfully raised significant capital, including a $35 million Series A round in 2019 led by Morgan Stanley, to fuel its growth and expand its charitable partnerships.