Shoes of Prey, an on-demand fashion footwear retailer, has raised $15.5 million in Series B capital funding led by BlueSky Venture Capital. Nordstrom and venture capital firm Greycroft are new equity partners of the retailer, while Khosla Ventures has increased its investment. With the most recent funding round, the company’s combined funding has reached $24.6 million.
In addition to the investment, Shoes of Prey will now offer its products on Nordstrom.com. Earlier in 2015, the retailer rolled out physical design studios in six Nordstrom stores in the U.S.
“Nordstrom has such an incredible reputation for being the place to buy gorgeous shoes,” said Jodie Fox, Co-Founder of Shoes of Prey. “For us to have a partnership where they have not only wanted to bring that to their customers and share it with them, but also invest in this as the future of shoe retail, is such an incredible affirmation of the work that we’re doing.”
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Shoes of Prey enables women to design their own customizable footwear online. The shoes are then manufactured by the retailer and delivered to the customer’s house within three weeks. Shoppers can choose the style, material, pattern and color they’d like for their shoes.
“You can look at Shoes of Prey as either a logistics and manufacturing business that has solved a fashion problem, or a fashion company that has solved a logistics and manufacturing problem,” said Elaine Stead, Investment Director of BlueSky Venture Capital in a statement. “Either way, both markets are ripe for disruption.”
Shoes of Prey will use the funding to continue growing its omnichannel retail presence in the U.S. Early in 2015, the retailer relocated the company headquarters from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles, in a move further set to appeal to the American audience.
“We have a ton to learn about the American woman,” Fox said in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “That’s the major value that we’ll get out of this relationship in terms of determining our offerings. Not just from the language and terminology used, but even weather trends. For example, winter can be so cold that you can’t wear ballet flats, you must wear ankle boots or full length boots. This need to understand the consumer stretches from our craft offerings to communications and every part of our business.”
The funding also is designed to increase production capacity in the company’s dedicated factory in China, to cater to increased consumer demand for customized products in the U.S. and globally. Additionally, the investment dollars will be used to accelerate future expansion into new products, starting with women’s handbags.
“The work we’ve done is not intended to affect just one part of the business, and it’s not just creating a great web site experience,” Fox stated. “Upon opening our own factory last year, we showed that with effective marketing, we can meet consumer demands, and we can be a mass market business.”
