Retail platform secures Series B financing to invest in technology, team, and drive additional growth
Leap, the retail platform for modern brands, announced its $50 million Series B financing. The round was led by BAM Elevate with participation from new and existing investors including Harbor Spring Capital, Northern Trust, Simon, Costanoa Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners and Equal Ventures. The new capital will be used to accelerate growth through investments in the company’s platform and store location network. In 2021, Leap’s store fleet and total system sales quadrupled and today, more than 30 brands utilize Leap’s platform to power 50 stores across eight markets.
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The Leap Platform enables brands to more rapidly deploy stores that work in concert with ecommerce and at significantly reduced cost and risk. Stores powered by Leap bring modern brands to life with compelling, immersive customer experiences and data-driven operations. Utilizing Leap’s platform, brands can deploy beautiful stores equipped with world class sales teams and omnichannel technology in a fraction of the time versus the conventional approach–doing it all in house. Ideal store locations, operations and merchandising are determined by leveraging Leap’s millions of data points and proprietary algorithms.
“Modern brands require omnichannel solutions to connect with customers meaningfully and consistently across channels. Our platform enables brands to activate retail locations with speed and data-driven decisions which minimizes risk, upfront costs and lease liabilities,” said Amish Tolia, co-founder and co-CEO at Leap. “It’s such an exciting time for retail. More than 500 brands have registered with us, and we have barely scratched the surface. This new capital will enable us to make significant investments into our technology for enabling omnichannel and to scale even more rapidly.”
“Brands can now leverage Leap’s proprietary data, systems and scale to rapidly create or grow an omnichannel physical retail presence, which has never been more important. We’re excited to see so many world class brands choosing to deploy and scale on the Leap Platform,” said JP Van Arsdale, BAM Elevate General Partner who has joined Leap’s Board of Directors. Ben O’Connor, Partner at BAM Elevate, added, “As brands look to overcome increasing costs in their supply chain and digital marketing channels, we believe Leap is uniquely positioned to transform the retail landscape.”
Leap’s growth in 2021 provided brands such as Naadam, Something Navy, ThirdLove, Mack Weldon, Lunya, Birdies, Ring Concierge and more with the opportunity to deploy stores in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Scottsdale, Florida, and Texas, and expanded its category capabilities into a broader range – from apparel and footwear to accessories, jewelry, intimates, and home goods.
“Our customers are our greatest asset,” added Heidi Zak, co-founder and co-CEO of ThirdLove. “By scaling our physical retail channel on Leap, we’re able to maintain our focus on designing and creating the best fitting under garments and activewear for our customers while Leap delivers a premier in-store experience that seamlessly connects with our website and shopping channels. We’re really excited to continue to grow our brand and better connect with our customers with the opening of our first four stores in California over the next few months and look forward to opening many more with Leap.”
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In addition to brands, Leap works with retail landlords, developers, and brokers to build up high performing retail markets, from local neighborhoods to shopping centers. By deploying stores in clusters Leap creates cost efficiencies and sales synergies, as well as mitigates risk for its brand customers and landlord partners alike.
Brian Berger, founder and CEO of Mack Weldon, said, “Leap allows us to showcase the range of Mack Weldon products in a way that complements our digital experience. The in-store experience results in greater customer loyalty and insights.”