Louisville-based social commerce startup GoWild will “go dormant” this week, according to a LinkedIn post made Friday by founder and CEO Brad Luttrell.
In the post, Luttrell did not disclose why the Louisville-based outdoor social media community and e-commerce platform was on pause, but said GoWild Alpha Inc. is in need of a long-term partnership.
“I know the first question is probably, ‘What happened?’ Luttrell said in the post. “Today is not the right time to answer that question, because I am still focused on solving a few short-term challenges to create the next chapter of GoWild.”
Luttrell concluded the post by saying, “It’s been a fun ride, and I’m doing my best to keep it going.”
Luttrell declined to provide more information when reached by Louisville Business First for comment.
A 2022 Kentucky Inno Startup to Watch, GoWild is an app-powered social media community targeted toward hunting, fishing and other outdoor pursuits. It has information and online forums for archery, camping, hiking, running, climbing, biking, firearms, gardening and nature enthusiasts.
The app allows users to connect with others, share tips and gather information on new products, trends and equipment.
In 2023, GoWild launched a spinoff company called Holler Commerce, which was billed as a "turnkey, AI-powered social commerce platform,” that can work behind the scenes of any brand with an online shop or e-commerce site without the user knowing it is being run through that platform.
It’s not clear if Holler Commerce, which was a 2024 Kentucky Inno Startup to Watch, is also going dormant. Both Holler Commerce and GoWild's websites were functional as of Monday afternoon.
GoWild, headquartered at 2351 Nelson Miller Parkway in East Louisville, had 11 full-time and 14 part-time employees as of last year, and was on pace to triple its revenue for the third consecutive year, according to an interview with Luttrell at the time.
He also said that GoWild’s users numbered in the “hundreds of thousands” and that at its peak time during the third and fourth quarter of 2022 (hunting and fishing season), it had approximately 500,000 users.
Earlier this year, the company said it had raised $7.5 million lifetime from investors, which included Lunsford Capital, Jack Danehy, Stadia Ventures, Venture First, Render Capital and Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater New York.
While it’s not clear if a lack of funding contributed to GoWild going dark, in Holler Commerce’s Startups to Watch profile, the company said that 2024 would be a difficult year for startups to raise capital.
“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.”
