The company was founded in 2008. In 2009 Zalando secured a media-for-equity deal with SevenVentures with the primary objective of revenue growth while expanding to new markets. The agreement has become one of the most well-known blockbusters of a media-for-equity deal.

Zalando is an excellent example of a direct-to-consumer company that benefited from media-for-equity. They received extensive brand exposure that led to a rapidly significant revenue increase.

From $6mn to $1.8bn in sales by 2013, a 29,900% increase in four years.

The company started expanding across Europe very rapidly, to the Netherlands and France (2010), the UK, Italy, and Switzerland (2011), Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Belgium, Spain, Poland, and Austria (2012).

According to Dealroom, Zalando is currently valued at €20.7bn.