Louisville-based Wabi Capital is at it again.
On the heels of having an exit with luxury car transport/display startup Cartainers a few weeks ago, the firm recently had another exit with HELM Boots (stylized), according to Justin Delaney, who serves as one of the firm’s partners.
In mid-March, Wabi finalized the sale of its 83% share of the upscale Austin, Texas-based boot company to Austin-based Ignite Companies. Details of the deal were not disclosed, but Delaney did say that Wabi sold the business for nearly nine times more than its original investment.
“I think it’s unusual to have two exits so close to each other, but that’s the way it worked out,” Delaney said. “We’re happy about it. I’m not expecting it to happen too often, but it’s a fantastic outcome.”
When Wabi purchased the majority of HELM Boots in January 2022 as part of a “growth capital position,” the company was making approximately $1.5 million in revenue, Delaney told me.
At the time of the sale, HELM was worth around $5 million, a surge largely credited to the brand entering Seattle-based Nordstrom (NYSE: JMN) both online and in stores in 2023. Before that, their boots were primarily sold at its own retail store in Austin.
Delaney said that he and his team first started talking with Ignite in the fall of 2023 before Ignite created a letter of intent [LOI] to buy the company.
HELM Boots was founded in 2009. When Wabi became involved, the company had several other VC investors, including Kendra Scott, the namesake of the Austin-based jewelry brand.
“It was appealing because it was a challenge,” Delaney said of purchasing the lion’s share of the company two years ago. “We felt like we could apply a lot of the e-commerce knowledge to grow the business [through] direct-to-consumer [sales] — and it’s a really cool brand… that’s special to a lot of people.”
The company sells dress boots for $149 to $315, according to its website, as well as traditional dress shoes ($245 to $275) and sneakers ($99 to $225). Its products, all of which are made with full-grain leather, are manufactured in a town outside of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
“We were really intentional about a very robust brand storytelling that kind of built the lore into this whole tagline of ‘Footwear for life.’ Footwear for life for us was as much about the longevity of the product as designing different products for different occasions,” said Brooks Thomas, who has served as the company’s president and CMO since September 2022.
Thomas, who is based out of Dallas, will be serving in a transitional role for the foreseeable future. He also serves as CMO for another of Delaney’s investments, Louisville-based Party Horses. Thomas first met Delaney in the late 2000s through Delaney’s younger brother.
“Over the years, we’d always batted around working with one another, and we were always two ships passing,” said Thomas, who added that 85% of the last year's sales were through the company's site. “And finally, post pandemic … I donned my pirate patch and decided to like, sail the seas and [seek out] a bit more of an entrepreneurial lifestyle.”
Wabi Capital was founded in 2022 by Delaney and Brook Smith, a name well known to the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. Smith, who also oversees RSLP Ventures, was named one of our 2023 KY Inno Fire under the category of “Investors” has been connected to investments in GoodMaps, Untitled, Barrell Crafts Spirits, Annex Capital and the Louisville Vegan Jerky Company — just to name a few.
With the recent sales of both HELM and Cartainers, Delaney did have one sentiment that is music to ears of founders both here and beyond: “I think it increases our appetite to do deals. Brook and I are looking forward to a very exciting 2024.”
