The Mercer Club
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
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Sections to complete：02 · 05
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
The Mercer Club was a New York-based online rental marketplace for luxury men's streetwear, founded in 2019 by Travis Ezidiegwu (with Chike Achebe and technical co-founder Ty Griffith), born out of the Harvard Innovation Lab. The 'Rent the Runway for men' model let customers pay $75 a month to rent up to two high-end streetwear items per week — authenticated pieces from Off-White, Gucci, Dior and Balenciaga — with free dry cleaning and coverage for minor damage. Backed by Y Combinator's Winter 2020 batch with $150K raised, it had grown to $100,000 ARR by demo day.
02 / FAILURE REASONS
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03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Travis Ezidiegwu founds The Mercer Club in New York as a subscription rental service for luxury men's streetwear.
- Y Combinator
The Mercer Club joins Y Combinator's W20 batch, reaching $100,000 ARR by demo day.
- Out of business
PitchBook records The Mercer Club as out of business as of May 22, 2022; YC lists its status as Inactive.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN / AFTERMATH
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