Two of the biggest names in the sneaker world are now one in the same. Culver City-based GOAT, the online marketplace for sneakerheads who want to buy and sell authenticated kicks, revealed this morning that it had merged with sneaker consignment shop and industry pioneer Flight Club to form one of the biggest marketplaces of its kind.
In addition to the merger, the newly-partnered companies — which will continue to operate independently — announced that they had closed a $60 million round of funding, led by new investor Index Ventures, bringing its total funding to $97.6 million to date.
“As the first company to focus on reselling rare sneakers, Flight Club revolutionized sneaker retail and paved the way for what is now a $2 billion dollar resale industry,” said co-founder and CEO Eddy Lu in a statement. “The merger of Flight Club and GOAT, together with $60 million in new funding, will allow us to significantly scale our online and retail operations to meet customer demand both domestically and internationally.”
The complementary strengths of the two companies put us in the best position to go after the entire market rather than compete for pieces of it.”
As a part of the deal, GOAT —which is hiring for a number of positions — will continue to focus on its digital-first approach, while Flight Club will hone in on its global retail and e-commerce consignment efforts.
“Aligning with GOAT’s world-class technology and mobile listings platform is the logical evolution of our business,” said Flight Club co-founder and President Damany Weir in the statement. “The complementary strengths of the two companies put us in the best position to go after the entire market rather than compete for pieces of it.”
Other investors include existing GOAT backers Accel, Matrix Partners, Upfront Ventures and Webb Investment. With the merger, Network Index Ventures’ Danny Rimer and Flight Club’s Weir will join GOAT’s board of directors.
