Investors dropped $4.6M on TheDrop to bring hundreds of global streetwear brands into one single e-commerce destination

In 2019, nearly 5,000 retailers announced store closures as they failed to compete with companies like Amazon and other online giants. Over the years, the biggest retailers who focused on ‘seasonal’ trends have also fallen behind,  giving way to real-time trends driven by celebrity Influencers.

Every 15-30 days, new brands are created and these retailers are finding it increasingly difficult to sell directly to the customers in an industry that is now estimated to be valued at $200 billion. The rapidly evolving industry has led customers in search of a single destination to find top brands from companies like Staple, Adidas, or Jordan’s that they already love, and also a place where they can learn about the next generation of brands like Clearweather, Brandblack, and SNKR Project, or even rediscover some of the retro drips from Ewing, Diadora, and others upcoming brands.

Enter TheDrop, the first global marketplace where hundreds of brands not only are able to sell directly to customers within a niche ‘retail’ environment but also where they, for the first time ever, can share the unique stories behind their brand and collections – stories that ultimately define them as a Brand and which create emotional connections that turn first time Customers into passionate, life-long fans of a Brand.

To further grow its platform, TheDrop announced today it has raised $4.6 million through a Series A funding led by Continental Investment Partners and Rimrock Venture Partners. Other backers include previous investors and multiple owners and managers of brands. The latest round brings the company’s total funding to $8.5 million in total.

TheDrop.com said it plans to use the new capital infusion to launch new content and brand ‘storytelling’ strategies, create real-time personalization across its user experience, and bring its entire DTC ecosystem to new parts of the world. TheDrop CEO Matt Falcinelli said the platform is quickly becoming the most desirable e-commerce destination in the U.S. for Millennial and Gen Z consumers seeking their favorite brands and discovering emerging designers. “We solve the primary challenge of the $200 billion Youth Lifestyle market.

Founded four years ago by Matt Falcinelli, TheDrop.com is the first marketplace platform of its kind in the U.S. to aggregate and curate products that are targeted to the Millennial and Gen Z consumer. TheDrop is not a secondary/resale market. Instead, TheDrop is a provider of the first global direct-to-consumer (DTC) streetwear marketplace platform for $175 billion primary streetwear. TheDrop also syncs with hundreds of the trendiest streetwear, sneaker, and skateboard brands and boutiques.

“How do brands grow their Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business while the consumer is still a multi-brand shopper, spending 80% of that $200 billion at multi-brand destinations?’ For our merchants, we offer extended reach and DTC margins through our platform. For our customers, TheDrop.com provides a curated multi-brand destination with 70+ new ‘drops’ every day from 700+ brands,” Falcinelli said.

TheDrop said it plans to use the Series A funds to launch new content and brand ‘storytelling’ strategies, create real-time personalization across its user experience and bring its entire DTC ecosystem to new parts of the world.

“We are thrilled to welcome Matt and his talented team at TheDrop.com to our portfolio,” said Paul Purcell, Partner at Continental Investment Partners. “Over the last decade, we have gained expertise and success investing in unique DTC and marketplace models. TheDrop.com has a great opportunity to make a real difference in the global youth market.”

Many boutique retailers have expressed their gratitude to TheDrop.com for helping them to stay afloat due to the success of the platform during the pandemic. Through this experience, many of the one-and two-location retail shops have come to realize their own digital reach is not sufficient to succeed and needs to be complemented with access to a curated multi-brand digital sales channel.

Leveraging its proprietary software platform developed in-house, TheDrop is now turning on localized instances of its marketplace in a rapidly growing number of international markets, exposing products from 100s of brands and retailers to new global audiences that could not shop these products until now.