Advertisement
Singapore markets closed
  • Straits Times Index

    3,224.01
    -27.70 (-0.85%)
     
  • Nikkei

    40,168.07
    -594.66 (-1.46%)
     
  • Hang Seng

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • FTSE 100

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • Bitcoin USD

    70,797.03
    +1,810.66 (+2.62%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • Dow

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • Nasdaq

    16,379.46
    -20.06 (-0.12%)
     
  • Gold

    2,254.80
    +42.10 (+1.90%)
     
  • Crude Oil

    83.11
    +1.76 (+2.16%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.2060
    +0.0100 (+0.24%)
     
  • FTSE Bursa Malaysia

    1,530.60
    -7.82 (-0.51%)
     
  • Jakarta Composite Index

    7,288.81
    -21.28 (-0.29%)
     
  • PSE Index

    6,903.53
    +5.36 (+0.08%)
     

Goat Secures Strategic Investment From Groupe Artémis

Goat has secured more financing to start 2021, this time from Groupe Artémis, the Paris-based holding company founded by François-Henri Pinault.

The sneaker and apparel trading app is currently valued at $1.75 billion following the close of its $100 million Series E investment round in September 2020 led by D1 Capital Partners. The investment from Artémis, the size of which was not disclosed, will be used to accelerate the company’s growth and further expansion in apparel, accessories and other categories.

More from WWD

“Goat has established a rapidly growing, distinctive brand with tens of millions of young consumers,” said Pinault, chairman of Artémis in a statement. “Our investment reflects our belief in their business model and in the power of their technology and platform to tell the story of luxury brands.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The investment also further strengthens Goat’s connection with Kering, which owns brands Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and McQ that have direct partnerships with Goat. McQ in September 2020 named Goat its 360 partner for the launch of its Genesis II collection designed by global creative collaborators.

“This investment acts as another validation point for the strength of our brand,” said Goat Group cofounder and chief executive officer Eddy Lu. “The luxury brands that we work with appreciate a company that stands for fashion, culture and style and present their products well. Our direction is different than the transactional marketplace. We have that point of view in fashion, culture and style and we’re seeing more and more that our customers love sneakers and fashion.”

Related: Sneaker Resale Sites: A Hot Category in Midst of Pandemic

Goat launched with sneakers in 2015, acquired Flight Club in 2018, further establishing its place in the sneaker resale and trading market, and received investment from Foot Locker and Index Ventures among others. The company added apparel in 2019, and devoted its first advertising campaign in 2020 to the new category.

Goat offers apparel in both the primary and secondary markets, pitting it against resale companies like The RealReal and Grailed as well as retailers like Farfetch. The company offers brands including Raf Simons, Visvim, Off-White and Rhude on its app, as well as Supreme, Bape, Kith and Palace among others via resale. Versace and Chloé tapped Goat in 2018 and 2019, respectively, to launch sneakers on the app as well.

“We are the true convergence of the primary and secondary market,” said Lu. “On the primary side, we’ve announced brands that we’ve worked directly with, and on resale, we’re consistently adding more.”

But what about sneakers? Lu said that remains Goat’s bread and butter, and apparel is the best companion to that. It’s also a huge opportunity since apparel represents a trillion-dollar global market.

“As brands started to work with us, we thought apparel is a great complement,” he said. “Our customer is a younger demographic looking for items that make them stand out. We’ve been very intentional in how we connect with our audience. There’s so much room to grow and enhance the experience for our audience.”

According to Lu, 2020 was Goat’s best year, and the company hit many sales records in terms of gross merchandise volume during the holiday season. Three of the company’s biggest days were on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the day the Air Jordan XI “Jubilee” sneakers were released, marking the 25th anniversary of the silhouette.

Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.