Sneaker resale platform GOAT raises $100 million, hits $1.75 billion valuation, sources say

• Leading resale platform GOAT just raised $100 million in Series E funding, the company announced on Wednesday.
• The latest funding round brings the company's total valuation up to $1.75 billion, a source familiar with the deal said.
• A Cowen & Co. analysis from July said the sneaker resale industry was worth $2 billion in North America and could reach $30 billion globally by 2030.

GOAT has joined the Unicorn Club.

The global resale platform closed a Series E funding round of $100 million from D1 Capital Partners on Wednesday, the company announced in a press release. The latest funding move brings the company's total valuation up to $1.75 billion, a source familiar with the deal said. GOAT was previously valued at $550 million, according to the source.

Founded in 2015, GOAT currently serves 30 million members and 600,000 sellers across its platform. With 13 physical locations across the US, Asia, and Europe, GOAT has expanded from solely sneakers into categories such as apparel and accessories.

As the sneaker resale sector grows, platforms like GOAT, which authenticate products before they are delivered to buyers, have been galvanized. A Cowen & Co. analysis from July said the sneaker resale industry was worth $2 billion in North America and could reach $30 billion globally by 2030. StockX, another leading resale platform, hit a $1 billion valuation in June of 2019.

"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," GOAT co-founder and CEO Eddy Lu said in the release. "We will utilize this new round of funding to capture the significant market opportunities in sneakers, apparel, and additional categories through technological innovation and by building even greater scale across our verticals."