Luxury Sneaker Label Koio Secures $9M in Funding for Series A

Ella Chochrek

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Luxury sneaker startup Koio has received a major cash infusion.

The Brooklyn, N.Y.-based label today announced that it has secured an additional $6 million for its series A fundraising, bringing its total to $9 million. The round was led by Founders Fund, a private equity venture that has made past early investments in Airbnb, Facebook and SpaceX.

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“This investment represents a new era for Koio as we’ll be bringing on more talent and new ideas to continue creating a product that represents a community that is not afraid to live daring lives,” co-founder and co-CEO Johannes Quodt said in a press release.

Founded in 2015 by Quodt and co-CEO Chris Wichert, Koio does a majority of its business online, with direct channels accounting for 90% of sales. The brand also has brick-and-mortar stores in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago.

Now that its series A is closed, Koio said it is focusing on scaling up its operations team to respond to increased demand; the company is expected to grow more than 100% year-over-year by the end of 2019. Additionally, the sneaker brand is seeking to expand its designs to offer a more robust portfolio.

“Since our initial launch, we’ve been able to build analytics that have helped us understand what our customers want and what they’d like to see next. With our latest funding support, we’ll be able to continue employing processes that allow us to recognize demand forecasting and produce efficient collections,” said Wichert.

Koio offers both men’s and women’s sneakers that are made in Italy. Prices range from $178 to $368.

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