Editor's note: Holler Commerce, part of GoWild, is projected to branch off into its own company in a few years. GoWild was named as one of our 2022 Startups to Watch.
Based: Louisville
Year founded: 2017
Founder(s)/top executives: Brad Luttrell, CEO; Zack Grimes, president; Donovan Sears, chief product designer; Chris Gleim, chief development officer
Capital raised to date: $7.5 million
Key investors: Lunsford Capital, Jack Danehy, Stadia Ventures, Venture First, Render Capital and Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater New York
Number of employees: 11
Brief company description: GoWild Alpha Inc. is a social commerce company, building products that help people share and shop meaningfully. Holler Commerce is a SaaS product that helps creators and publishers launch their own native shops.
What are some major milestones in the company’s history?
- 2019 — Accepted into Stadia Ventures’ accelerator, considered the best in sports
- 2020 — GoWild launched its first ecommerce store
- 2023 — Landed our largest ad contract in company history, launched Holler Commerce
What is your company working on right now? Scaling Holler Commerce with the largest creators in the outdoors.
What’s on the horizon for your company in 2024? Ending affiliate marketing in the outdoor industry with a product that has superior tracking, payouts and user experience.
Why grow your company in/from Kentucky? We’re from here, and proud to build here. We want to prove Silicon Holler can build successful companies.
Give us one bold prediction in 2024 for startups, technology or venture capital/fundraising. Fundraising in 2024 for startups is going to be brutal through the first half of the year. Competition for cash is fierce, and [venture capital firms] are still moving slow. Regional VCs will take longer to bounce back than coastal, and founders are going to have to continue to be scrappy to survive and thrive.
