Lyst Strengthens Leadership as CEO Chris Morton Steps Back

Morton will continue to serve as the fashion e-commerce app’s executive chairman, focusing on strategy, partnerships and financing, but will hand over day-to-day leadership to current chief operating officer Emma McFerran in September, the company said Wednesday.

Lyst, which raised $85 million in a “pre-IPO” round last year, has also hired former Hotel.com and Expedia executive Liz Kistruck to serve as chief financial officer.

The company said the leadership reshuffle positions it to maintain a leading position in the fast-growing but highly competitive online fashion market, where both digital heavyweights and luxury incumbents have struggled to turn a profit.

”It’s increasingly clear that we have a unique opportunity ahead of us — my biggest fear is that we don’t take advantage of it,” Morton said in a statement. “The market is accelerating and changing fast in the current environment — both of these offer tremendous tailwinds for our business.”

Though Lyst isn’t profitable, the company’s revenue rose more than 50 percent to £35.4 million ($42.1 million) in its financial year ending March 31, 2022, according to a public filing.

Learn more:

Why Investors Are Betting on Lyst

The platform raised an $85 million ‘pre-IPO’ round on the back of a fast-growing luxury e-commerce market and significant steps towards realising its ‘Spotify for fashion’ vision.

Editors' Note: This story was revised on July 13, 2022 to amend the names of chief operating officer Emma McFerran and chief financial officer Liz Kistruck.