retail
Earlier this year, GOAT launched its new brand campaign during the NBA Playoffs, attempting to establish itself as a tastemaker for its 30 million members. The company, which takes its name from the sports acronym for "Greatest of All Time," has expanded its online store to include new clothes and accessories from luxury brands such as Alexander McQueen and Versace.
Its mix of iconic brands to streetwear, along with its online orientation, could boost it during the pandemic as fashion trends embrace a sweatpants aesthetic and a shopping-at-home culture.
Co-founder and CEO Eddy Lu has said he wants GOAT to be a curator and not just a transactional retailer.
Eddy Lu
"Our mission is to bring the world's greatest products together from the past, present and future, while providing a premier end-to-end customer experience with a point of view on culture and style," he said in a statement.
The funds will be used to expand their market reach.
Their series E round was bankrolled by Dan Sundeheim's D1 Capital partners, a firm he started in 2018 after leaving as Viking Global Investors' chief investment officer. His $4 billion fund has been pouring money into public and private companies, most recently injecting $200 million into the controversial online trading company RobinHood Financial.
With the most recent round of funding, the company has raised $300 million from venture capital and strategic partners including FootLocker.
It boasts customers in 170 countries and 13 physical locations.
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Behold raised $5 million and Tuesday launches its tech platform, where customers can browse outfits recommended to them by artificial intelligence (AI) and a group of professional stylists.
The funding round was led by L.A. investors including Upfront Ventures, Greycroft, Troy Capital Partners, TenOneTen Ventures and Zillow and dot.LA co-founder Spencer Rascoff.
While most people are buying sweatpants and comfy clothes, Boyle thinks the consumer market will shift back to dressier clothes, outfits that tend to be more expensive.
"Just because you can hang out in sweats and a t-shirt doesn't mean you should," Boyle said. "How you dress affects how you feel, so you're starting to see more and more people, as you walk around town, dressing up even if there's no real reason to."
Behold's website is set up like a personality quiz for clothes. Users can click through a series of outfits, ranking them on a scale from ones they'd wear "Never" to "Often." After "training your stylist" by adding measurements, your budget and a few favorite designers, the website generates a curated board of outfits using its "Smart-Collab" technology. The idea has been embraced by subscription box services like Stitch Fix and Frank and Oak.
Every Monday, Behold stylists send seven to 10 personalized outfits to each registered user who can then choose to adjust the outfits or purchase pieces individually. Consumers can choose clothes from a range of prices, although most are designer brands. A quick review of the site by dot.LA found the the tool steered customers to higher priced items even when asked for cheaper ones.
As the pandemic moves retail shopping online, the L.A.-based company sees their model as one that makes discovering new clothes more personalized. Boyle said it's also a smart move for wholesale companies and designers struggling to make money through traditional retail marketplaces like department stores, which have seen a wave of closures.
"The pandemic has made brands more open to understanding that their future channel partners may look different than the ones they had in the past," Boyle said.