Goat also turned unicorn during the Series E funding round.

Goat Group, which specializes in selling sneakers on its Goat.com online marketplace, announced Wednesday its raise of $100 million in a Series E funding round from D1 Capital Partners. (PRNewswire)

The round valued the company at $1.75 billion. The startup, therefore, turned unicorn, having previously been valued at $550 million.

Goat Group operates the GOAT, Flight Club, and alias brands.

Use of funds

Goat will use the funds to expand its product categories and territories. It also intends to capitalize on “opportunities” in sneakers, apparel, and additional categories.

The company also intends to build scale in its business verticals.

More than 350 brands use its platform to sell their products. The site caters to a young set, sometimes referred to as “sneakerheads.” Though the platform is planning to introduce new categories such as fashion apparel and accessories, sneakers will continue to be its main business focus, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The latest funding brings the startup’s cumulative fundraising to over $300 million. Investors include Accel, Foot Locker, Index, and Upfront Ventures.

Market opportunity

Research firm Cowen said in July that the market potential of sneaker and streetwear resale market in North America could be as high as $30 billion globally by 2030.

“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,” said Eddy Lu, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, in a statement.

“We witnessed the impressive success that catapulted GOAT to become a top player in the sneaker space and were drawn to their disciplined operational approach and differentiated value proposition,” said Dan Sundheim, Founder of D1 Capital Partners, in a statement. “As GOAT continues to grow its core business and expand into new categories, it is rapidly emerging as one of the best positioned next-generation global e-commerce platforms.”

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Image Credit: Goat.com