SquadLocker, the Warwick-based startup behind custom athletic apparel, has secured $20 million in Series C financing. The round was led by ABS Capital Partners, with participation from existing investors Causeway Media Partners and Jim Lombardi.
The funding will go toward growth initiatives, including the expansion of channel partner relationships. ABS Capital general partner Mike Avon will also join SquadLocker's board of directors as part of the transaction.
Co-founded in 2015 by Gary Goldberg and Todd Grant, SquadLocker streamlines youth athletic apparel design and purchase via an instantly created online store, using athletic brands like Nike and Under Armour. A coach or parent can log onto the SquadLocker site and create a store based on sport or type of clothing. They can then customize materials with a logo of their own, then share the store with teammates via social media or email and have players order their clothes. The SquadLocker team in Warwick fulfills and ships orders directly to players.
"It was—and is—an industry that’s stuck in the 1990s," Grant told Rhode Island Inno in 2017, when the startup closed on $7 million in new funding. "We wanted to breathe some life into the industry, to bring ease of use tools, [the] convenience and a tech-enabled solution."
Last year, the startup announced partnerships with nation.academy to produce new equipment and merchandise and with the conference ECAC Hockey. For the latter, ECAC Hockey and SquadLocker re-designed the league's online store, and SquadLocker provided the championship gift cards for both the ECAC Hockey men's and women's championships in 2019.
SquadLocker has additionally partnered with league management software SportsEngine, a division of NBC Sports, for the last three years. In a press release, Avon of ABS Capital said that partnership was one thing that drove the firm's lead investment in the Series C round.
"Every team on the SportsEngine platform is offered seamless integration with SquadLocker's technology and services, expanding the addressable market and the Company's reach," Avon said.
