Castore, the tech-enabled Manchester-based sportswear brand, is now valued at £950m after securing a £150m investment.
Founded in Liverpool in 2016 by brothers Thomas and Philip Beahon, the funding round has been led by The Raine Group, a leading global TMT merchant bank, alongside Hanaco Ventures and Felix Capital.
The siblings say the investment will give the company the ‘financial firepower’ to invest in its supply chain and enhance its data analytics capabilities.
Sharing the news on LinkedIn this morning, Thomas Beahon explained how their parents remortaged their home in the early stages to get the business off the ground.
“Castore is a true entrepreneur’s story,” he wrote. “When my brother and I co-founded the business in 2016, nobody thought we had any chance of being successful – banks, investors, advisors and everyone else we spoke to rejected our idea as crazy.
“Eventually our Mum and Dad told us they believed in us and would remortgage their home to give us the money to get Castore off the ground – an amazing gesture and show of faith only a parent can have.
“Equally, knowing if you fail you won’t just be failing for yourself, you will have a significant impact on your parents’ lives, puts a level of fear and anxiety in your stomach that few people will understand. We didn’t just want Castore to be successful, we needed it to be.”
Beahon said technology was at the heart of Castore’s success.
“There is a business side to our story – seeing a gap in the global sports market and using technology and data to create a superior model to the existing brands who had dominated the sector for a generation,” he said.
“But the bigger aspect is the personal side – a story of passion, work ethic, big dreams and most importantly – never, ever giving up.
“People rarely talk about the difficult times but they are far more important than the good moments and how we respond to adversity is how we all become who we are.
“Our vision when we founded Castore was to create a proudly British brand competing on the global stage and we won’t stop until we get there. The mission continues.”
Castore has forged a reputation as a leading premium performance sportswear brand and technology-enabled, end-to-end digital platform for global sports teams.
Castore’s Team Sports platform manages the full omni-channel retailing (online, offline, event-based) operations for selected partners and has a proven approach for growing revenues through product quality, supply chain innovation and fan engagement.
Team Sports partners include McLaren F1; Oracle Red Bull Racing; England Cricket Board, Glasgow Rangers, Bayer Leverkusen, Feyenoord, Sevilla FC, Athletic Club (Bilbao), Saracens Rugby and Republic of Ireland Football.
Jason Schretter, partner of The Raine Group, added “Castore is an insurgent sportswear brand that sits at the intersection of sports, premium brands, data analytics and e-commerce.
“Raine and our fellow co-investors’ deep expertise across these industries helped us immediately understand the impact Castore can have on its clients.
“Sports teams and leagues are among the most cherished brands in the world. They deserve comprehensive and bespoke solutions to help them better connect, engage and monetise their global fan bases.
“Castore’s differentiated combination of high-quality merchandise and data-driven technology solutions is the answer sports franchises need to unlock this massive opportunity. We look forward to working with Tom, Phil and the entire Castore team to extend their connectivity to the world of sports.”
Hanaco is a New York and Tel Aviv based multi-stage investment firm that seeks to invest in the world’s best entrepreneurs building technology-enabled category leading businesses across the US, Europe and Israel.
Felix Capital is a London-based venture capital firm, operating at the intersection of technology and creativity. Previous investments have included Farfetch, an online marketplace for the fashion and luxury and Mirakl, a Saas platform for marketplaces.
Rothschild & Co is acting as the sole financial adviser to Castore on this transaction. Allen & Overy and Addleshaw Goddard are legal advisors to Castore. Latham and Watkins LLP acted as legal advisor to Raine.