Flight Club, the pioneering site and retail presence for sneaker enthusiasts, has been acquired by GOAT, the digital marketplace for sneakers. In conjunction with the acquisition, GOAT is announcing a $60M funding round led by Index Ventures including participations from Accel, Matrix Partners, Upfront Ventures and Webb Investment Network. “Aligning with GOAT’s world-class technology and mobile listings platform is the logical evolution of our business. The complementary strengths of the two companies puts us in the best position to go after the entire market rather than compete for pieces of it,” said Damany Weir, cofounder and president of Flight Club.
Flight Club was founded by Weir in 2005. GOAT, founded by Daishin Sugano and Eddy Lu, has now raised a total of $97.6M over five funding rounds and employees 300 individuals in LA and New Jersey. “As the first company to focus on reselling rare sneakers, Flight Club revolutionized sneaker retail and paved the way for what is now a two billion dollar resale industry,” said Lu. “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.”