Dote raised $23m to be Gen Z's dream mall — then ghosted everyone it had signed

Dote launched in 2014 as what founder Lauren Farleigh called 'Gen Z's dream mall' — an app where users could discover, save and shop styles from around 150 retailers, among them Asos, Zara and Urban Outfitters, in a single transaction. Its engine was roughly 450 Instagram and YouTube influencers enlisted as 'Dote Creators,' including Olivia Jade and Emma Chamberlain, who launched her High Key clothing line through the app in August 2018. Investors had put in $23 million since launch, including a $12 million round announced in April 2019.

The influencer engine broke on the trips. An August 2018 Fiji trip drew accusations that women of colour were treated differently; then came 'Dotechella,' the April 2019 Coachella trip, where the four women of colour were assigned to one side of the house with pullout beds and one shared bathroom while white influencers got master bedrooms with king beds — beds pre-tagged with names. YouTuber Daniella Perkins told it in a video; BuzzFeed News reported it on May 10, 2019. Farleigh said grouping anyone by race 'is simply untrue,' then apologised; a spokesperson blamed 'logistical challenges.'

The company kept posting through 2019 — the last Instagram post went up January 10, 2020. Later that month users reported the app failing and saved items disappearing; on January 31 they received a notification that the iOS version was shutting down. There was no announcement to users, creators or brand partners — when Glossy checked in March, the app was still downloadable but loaded nothing, the website inactive, Dote unreachable. 'I struggle to see how they would find their way out of the dog house,' Traackr co-founder Pierre-Loic Assayag said of the brand-trip fallout.