By CultureBanx Team
- Goat raised a $100M series E funding round at a $1.75B valuation
- Urban culture has always had an epochal influence on the sneaker industry
Sneaker reselling is big business, as Goat has turned resales into a kind of currency through its online marketplace pushing it to a $1.75 billion valuation. Urban culture has always had an epochal influence on the sneaker industry which helped the company raise $100 million in its series E funding round. Since hip-hop loves to talk about their limited sneakers, it’s helped to create market envy and a reason for platforms like Goat to exist.
Why This Matters: Supply and demand is the name of the game for sneaker aficionados, and more than 350 brands sell their products directly on Goat. These coveted consumer goods have become tradable commodities with “sneakerheads” around the world regarding them as investment assets. Goat’s going to use some of the new money to become a bigger platform for fashionable apparel and accessories beyond sneakers, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Sneakers by rappers like Kanye West, Drake and Pharrell with companies including Nike and Adidas have created a frenzy on Goat
Sneakers by rappers like Kanye West, Drake and Pharrell with companies including Nike (NKE -0.42%) and Adidas have created a frenzy on Goat as they dictate business and trends, that have basically usurped athletes as the go-to tastemakers in the industry. Hip hop artists have gone from subtle co-signers who helped start grassroots movements to indirect ad men, to power brokers.
Goat has been playing the long game with sneakers garnering partnerships with luxury fashion brands like Alexander McQueen and footwear giant Nike. In previous rounds the company has raised $200 million from investors including Accel, Upfront Ventures, along with Foot Locker throwing in $100 million on its own.
This most recent funding round makes perfect sense, especially when you consider the market for resale sneakers and streetwear in North America is projected to reach $6 billion by 2025, according to Cowen.
Competition is steep in the sneaker resale market. Goat’s main competitor StockX actually joined the unicorn club last year. In July 2019, StockX raised $110 million at a $1 billion valuation. The company noted that in 2018 its revenue more than doubled, with gross product sales topping $100 million a month, a number that’s likely to go up.
What’s Next: Goat plans to use its new capital injection to expand internationally. The company already has 13 physical locations in the U.S., Asia, and Europe, that ship products to 170 markets globally. They will also dive deeper into research and development.
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