Gilt Groupe
E-commerceUSA
New to Unitard
π€ Acquired
PeakΒ $1.05 BillionToday
-76%
from peak
- π¦Became a unicornFeb 2015
- πPeak valuation$1.05 Billion β11
- πBecame a UnitardJan 2016
- πΈLast valuation~$252M
Current status
Acquired Β· ~$250M
The rise & fall
6 moments Β· 2007β2016The key moments.
2007
2007
Founded in New York
Kevin Ryan, Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson launch invitation-only flash sales of designer fashion.
Wikipedia
2011
2011
The peak: $1.05B on the flash-sale craze$1.05B
A $138M round led by SoftBank and Goldman Sachs values the daily-deal pioneer at about $1.05B, the height of the model's moment.
Fortune
2012
2012
The daily-deal hangover
Layoffs arrive and the side ventures start getting shed as Gilt retreats to its fashion core.
WSJ
2015
2015
Flash-sale fatigue sets in
Shoppers tire of the daily-deal inbox; growth stalls as the once-hot model loses momentum.
Fortune
Jan 2016
Jan 2016
Acquired by Hudson's Bay for ~$250M$250M
Saks' parent pays roughly a quarter of the peak valuation β a 76% markdown on the flash-sale dream.
RetailDive
How it happened
Gilt Groupe was a pioneering U.S. flash-sale e-commerce site that reached a ~$1.05B valuation in 2015. As the flash-sale model lost momentum and growth stalled, it was acquired by Hudson's Bay Company in early 2016 for about $250M, roughly 76% below its unicorn peak.
Source: RetailDive/Fortune; HBC/Saks acq. $250M, Jan 2016
Founder
Current roles as self-reported on LinkedIn, retrieved 2026-08-19. See our methodology.
