Kicks Crew, a Hong Kong-based e-commerce platform for sneakers and apparel, announced Wednesday the closing of $6 million in Series A funding led by Gobi Partners and Pacific Century Group.
The capital raised will assist in strengthening the company’s foothold in the United States market, attract talent across engineering, product, and marketing teams, and introduce a headquarters in Los Angeles, Kicks Crew said in a statement.
“Global adaptability and an ever-evolving mindset have always been in our DNA. With that in mind, we built a platform answering to a diverse community of shoppers seeking products of different functions and price points. Today, we offer a wide variety of products with over 400,000 styles. This well-timed investment is a huge step towards our goal of providing a best-in-class customer experience – by having the widest selection and fastest shipping speed, and for our retailer sellers – a scalable and frictionless selling experience allowing them to seamlessly reach a global audience,” said Ross Adrian Yip, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Kicks Crew.
The inception of the company dates back to 2008 as a project by Founder and Chief Executive Officer Johnny Mak to pursue a vision in making a sneaker platform that is accessible to all. Kicks Crew’s dynamic platform brings creators, curators, and consumers together in one inclusive community. The company’s business to business to consumer (B2B2C) marketplace model also guarantees product authenticity for consumers as it is the only sneaker marketplace exclusively working directly with retailers of the brands they carry.
The brand’s slogan, Find Your Pair, calls for inclusivity and addresses the gap in the current market hyper-focused on limited editions and luxury offerings, despite growing demand and a large addressable market in the general athletic footwear and apparel segment.
“In the online sneaker market, most platforms target the relatively niche high-end and collectibles segments, and put less emphasis on the much larger everyday sneaker consumer. Kicks Crew identified this massive market opportunity and built a trusted brand servicing these customers. We are thrilled to be able to support them as they look to further expand their platform and offerings.” said Chibo Tang, Managing Partner at Gobi Partners Greater Bay Area.
Gobi Partners is a global leading venture capital firm with $1.2 billion in assets under management, and has backed over 270 startups. Gobi GBA, General Partner (GP) of the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund (AEF), has invested in over 50 startups across 13 countries with seven unicorns.