Ghost comes out of stealth

By Nihal Mehta

We’re excited to share that our portfolio company Ghost is coming out of stealth and announcing a Series A ($13 million in equity, plus $7 million in debt) led by Union Square Ventures.

The startup, founded by Dee Murthy and Josh Kaplan, helps fashion brands and retailers monetize their excess inventory, with a private marketplace where they can buy, sell, and dynamically price products.

Eniac co-led led Ghost’s $5 million seed last year with Rick Zullo of Equal Ventures. Following the seed, the company has had some of the fastest revenue growth we’ve ever seen, and it was able to close the A less than eight months later, all adding up to $28 million in total funding.

We’re always proud and grateful when founders in our portfolio take that next step (especially in this environment), but there’s an extra thrill here since Eniac’s partners have known Dee since 2008, and we’ve watched him build Menlo Club into a successful company with $80 million in annualized revenue.

While the Ghost team is based in Los Angeles, I got an early peek at what Dee was up to last year during a #PitchandRun (just between us: Dee actually wiped out on the run 😬). He and Josh (who was previously CEO at New Republic) make for an incredible yin-yang team, similar to many of the full-stack founding teams in the Eniac portfolio — Dee can sell the dream and Josh makes it happen.

Dee and Josh know the apparel business better than anyone, which means they know the opportunities and challenges that in the space — including the pain point of excess inventory, which inspired them to create Ghost.

So congrats to Dee and Josh and their success so far. And to Rebecca Kaden and the USV team: Welcome to the Ghost rocketship!