St. Louis fitness apparel startup AGOGIE has moved to a new headquarters it says will help it capitalize on skyrocketing sales figures.
The startup has relocated from the T-REX downtown incubator to its new, 25,000-square-foot office and distribution facility at 1317 Horan Drive in Fenton.
Launched in 2017, AGOGIE is a direct-to-consumer, "resistance apparel" startup that has developed pants with built-in resistance bands aimed at helping those who wear them to strengthen muscles and burn calories while working out or walking around.
Founder and CEO Aaron Mottern said AGOGIE’s expansion comes as it has experienced massive growth, with sales of more than $3 million this year to date. It has already topped its sales figures from recent years, with the startup recording sales of $1.2 million in 2020 and $193,000 in 2019, Mottern said. AGOGIE expects to end 2021 with sales around $6 million, and Mottern said the company expects a sales uptick from Black Friday and the holiday season.
AGOGIE’s explosive sales growth can be attributed to an ability to grow its inventory and increase its advertising expenses, Mottern said.
“Really, it’s just being able to focus on marketing and spending money where we knew tactically it would grow,” he said,
Through 2020 and in early 2021, AGOGIE used $3 million in debt to finance its growth, Mottern said. The startup has used “creative” financing, drawing funds from sources that include Shopify Capital, which provides small-business loans, and Kickfurther, which provides inventory financing for e-commerce companies. AGOGIE has also raised about $850,000 in equity financing since its launch.
In recent years, AGOGIE got a boost from having its product featured by high-profile publications and television shows. It appeared on the "Rachael Ray Show" in 2019 and the "Tamron Hall Show" in 2020. Another catalyst for the startup’s growth was its participation in 2020 in St. Louis-based Capital Innovator’s accelerator program.
As its sales jumped, AGOGIE has added to its headcount. What was once a team of just Mottern now includes five-full time and 10 part-time employees.
Mottern said his startup’s relocation to its new Fenton headquarters, which it leases, was necessitated by its growth. Previously, AGOGIE ran all of its distribution out of T-REX, where it could only receive just under 5,000 units at a time. Mottern said that became a limiting factor for the startup, whose most recent order was 25,000 units.
“We had to find a new place,” he said.
As it settles into its new headquarters, AGOGIE is also targeting geographic expansion. The company plans to open a new office north of London in the United Kingdom, which ranks third behind the U.S. and Canada for AGOGIE sales. The startup has been invited to be part of the Amazon Launchpad EU program, which is designed to help companies with marking and placement on Amazon.
Moving forward, AGOGIE plans to continue to seek out rapid growth. Mottern said the company is targeting revenue of $26 million, with plans to launch additional products like shirts, shorts and new colors for its pants
“We’re going after extreme growth and we have new products coming out,” Mottern said. “We have some other product lines to really aid that growth and really increase the lifetime value of the customers.”
In the near term, the startup plans to add about another 15 employees by the first quarter of 2022. Mottern said the new hires will be for warehouse positions as well as roles in programming, SEO and marketing.
