GOAT Group
| Privately held company | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Founded 📆 | 2015 |
| Founder 👔 | Eddy Lu, Daishin Sugano |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | , Los Angeles |
Area served 🗺️ | |
Key people | Eddy Lu (co-founder and Chief Executive Officer)
Daishin Sugano (co-founder and Chief Product Officer) Yunah Lee (Chief Operating Officer) Sen Sugano (Chief Brand Officer) |
| Products 📟 | GOAT
Flight Club Grailed alias |
| Members | |
Number of employees | 1650 (2022) |
| 🌐 Website | goatgroup.com |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
Founded in 2015 by co-founders Eddy Lu and Daishin Sugano, GOAT Group represents the leading platforms for buying and selling authentic sneakers, apparel, and accessories. Operating four distinct brands, GOAT, Flight Club, Grailed, and alias, GOAT Group has a global community of over 50 million members across 170 countries.[1].
HISTORY
GOAT launched in 2015 as a result of co-founder Daishin Sugano’s purchase of a pair of re-released Air Jordan 5 Grapes, which turned out to be fake. From this experience, the co-founders sought to build a business that could address a prevalent issue of counterfeit goods within the global sneaker industry[2]. Developing a proprietary authentication system, which is supported by AI and human evaluation, GOAT Group was able to become the pioneer of the ship-to-verify model. In this managed, inventory-less model, buyers purchase a product, and before being sent to them, the product’s seller will ship the item to one of GOAT Group’s global facilities for verification and authentication[3].
In February 2018, GOAT acquired Flight Club, a retail sneaker consignment business with global notoriety. Through this merger, GOAT became Flight Club’s parent company and was able to access Flight Club’s large international sneaker community, and simultaneously, the company was able to leverage the GOAT technology to bring Flight Club onto a digital platform, rather than just retail[4].
In late 2019, GOAT expanded from only sneaker resale to also offering apparel and accessories. Also at this time, the company began direct partnerships and listings with global, luxury fashion houses, becoming a channel for these businesses to sell direct-to-consumer through GOAT[5].
GOAT Group raised its Series F fundraising round in August of 2021, valuing the business at $3.7 billion. The GOAT Group Series F was led by Park West Asset Management and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Franklin Templeton, Adage Capital Management, and Ulysses Management. Investors in previous rounds include D1 Capital Partners LP, Accel, Upfront Ventures, and retailer Foot Locker[6].
Expanding its apparel business, in October of 2022, GOAT Group acquired Grailed, a men’s peer-to-peer marketplace that sells vintage, luxury, and streetwear fashion[7].
GOAT GROUP BRANDS
GOAT was the first digital sneaker marketplace that offered customers a ship-to-verify model to combat the counterfeit sneaker industry. In the years since its founding in 2015, GOAT has become one of the largest marketplaces in the world to buy and sell new and vintage sneakers, apparel, and accessories from emerging, contemporary, and iconic brands.
Flight Club started in 2005, in New York City, as the original consignment store for rare sneakers. It was first of its kind at the time when the shoe resale market was just a niche group. Over the years, Flight Club has become a pillar in the space and has evolved from a one-stop sneaker destination to a cultural hub for sneaker enthusiasts and novices alike. Flight Club operates 3 locations: New York, Los Angeles, and Miami.
Flight Club has also become a celebrity shoe shopping destination and is frequently featured in sneaker and streetwear enthusiast publications. A few notable celebrities include PJ Tucker[8], Jimmy Fallon[9], Kylian Mbappé[10], Angus Cloud[11], Jerry Lorenzo[12], among others.
In 2020, GOAT Group launched alias, which was an evolution from the GOAT platform’s ‘Seller’ tab. Alias serves as GOAT Group’s reselling platform that allows users to list and sell sneakers, apparel, and accessories to customers across the world[13].
Founded in 2014, Grailed is one of the world’s largest peer-to-peer marketplaces for resale of authentic luxury, streetwear, vintage, archive, and sneakers. In 2021, led by GOAT and other investors including Groupe Artémis and Gucci CEO Marco Bizzari, Grailed raised a $60 million Series B funding round[14].
In October 2022, Grailed launched its women’s offering on the Grailed platform[15]
References
- ↑ www.goatgroup.com https://www.goatgroup.com/. Retrieved 2023-04-18. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ "How fake Air Jordans turned these L.A. pals' sneakerhead dream into a powerhouse platform". Los Angeles Times. 2021-07-16. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
- ↑ Badenhausen, Kurt. "Foot Locker Invests $100 Million In Secondary Sneaker Platform GOAT". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
- ↑ Panzarino, Matthew (2018-02-08). "GOAT is merging with legendary sneaker retailer Flight Club and raising $60 million". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
- ↑ Nast, Condé (2021-07-05). "Inside Goat's plans to merge sneaker resale and retail". Vogue Business. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
- ↑ Scott, Charity L. "WSJ News Exclusive | Goat Group, Parent of Sneaker Marketplace, Valued at $3.7 Billion in Latest Funding Round". WSJ. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
- ↑ "GOAT Group Announces Deal to Acquire Grailed". Complex. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
- ↑ PJ Tucker Returns For Sneaker Shopping With Complex, retrieved 2023-04-18
- ↑ Jimmy Fallon Goes Sneaker Shopping With Complex, retrieved 2023-04-18
- ↑ Kylian Mbappé Goes Sneaker Shopping With Complex, retrieved 2023-04-18
- ↑ Angus Cloud Goes Sneaker Shopping With Complex, retrieved 2023-04-18
- ↑ Jerry Lorenzo Goes Sneaker Shopping With Complex, retrieved 2023-04-18
- ↑ "alias.org". alias.org. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
- ↑ Nast, Condé (2021-09-16). "EXCLUSIVE: Goat and Gucci CEO invest in resale platform Grailed". Vogue Business. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
- ↑ Garner, Stephen (2022-10-25). "Grailed Launches Women's Offering One Week After Being Acquired by GOAT". Footwear News. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
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