Centra today announced global fashion and design company, H&M Group, will take a minority stake in the specialist fashion and lifestyle ecommerce platform. 

H&M Group’s investment will accelerate Centra’s growth and innovation, solidifying its position as the market-leading platform in fashion commerce. With this new investment, Centra will continue optimising its platform and accelerating R&D efforts across its direct-to-consumer (DTC), fashion wholesale (B2B) and omnichannel capabilities.

Centra has partnered with several H&M brands, including COS, ARKET, & Other Stories and Weekday, which all transitioned to Centra’s platform in 2024. H&M Group’s investment reflects its confidence in Centra’s capabilities and while it enhances Centra’s ability to innovate, Centra confirmed it remains fully independent, with decisions driven by the needs of its customer base.

“We’ve been truly impressed by Centra’s journey so far. Their ability to combine deep industry insights with technical innovation is helping fashion brands solve real challenges in e-commerce.”

Nanna Andersen, Chief of New Growth & Ventures at H&M Group

“That’s why we’re proud to strengthen our partnership through this investment, supporting Centra’s continued growth and the next phase of their exciting journey ahead,” Andersen continued.

In the UK, Centra recently announced partnerships with Paul Smith and Osprey London – launching digital DTC flagship stores for both brands. 

Lana Rush, Head of Marketing at premium bags and accessories brand, Osprey, which had considered re-platforming the brand to Shopify, commented at launch: “Our goal is to position ourselves as an aspirational shopping destination, continually innovating and pushing boundaries in how people perceive and shop with us. The composable nature of Centra makes this level of creativity and flexibility possible.”

“We started Centra with the simple idea that there’s a better way to run a global fashion brand. Our approach is different from the rest of the market – we focus on providing fashion-specific solutions that help brands scale and innovate in ways others can’t,” Martin Jensen, CEO of Centra, said. “The results we’ve seen with H&M’s portfolio brands show how effective this approach is.”

“The investment from H&M Group is a strong vote of confidence in the value we’ve built together. We’re excited to continue driving innovation and proving that there’s a better way for fashion brands to thrive in today’s fast-changing commerce landscape.”

Martin Jensen, CEO, Centra

Founded in 2016, Centra was built to give fashion and lifestyle brands a better way to run global commerce and currently supports over 300 brands across Europe, North America and Asia, with recent additions including John Smedley, Tretorn, Fond Of, and MP Denmark.