Prior to the Hudson's Bay acquisition, sales were exceeding growth projections but the firm had not been profitable yet.

The company was co-founded by Kevin P. Ryan, Michael Bryzek and Phong Nguyen, with Alexis Maybank, and Alexandra Wilson joining shortly after the company's inception;[9] who modeled Gilt after Vente-Privee, an online fashion retailer in France.

The original business plan consisted of "flash sales," selling a limited number of luxury designer items at steep discounts for brief periods.

[11] In 2009, growth equity firm General Atlantic led a series C funding round, joined by previous investor Matrix Partners.

The firm purchases vendor inventory at an extreme discount, adding a margin in order to make a profit.