Friday Fundings: Allbirds, VTEX, and Rally

Shoe Company, Allbirds Raises $100 Million

Allbirds, which makes soft, comfortable shoes famous for being popular among people working in the tech industry, has raised $100 million in a Series E funding round. The company, valued at $1.7 billion, says it only set out to raise $50 million in this funding round, but it encountered more investor interest than expected. The round was led by Franklin Templeton with participation from T. Rowe Price, Baillie Gifford, and other investors.

The money will be used to open more physical Allbirds stores, invest in direct-to-consumer sales operations, and expand product offerings. Allbirds was founded in 2016 and gained traction with its signature wool sneakers. Since then, it has created a wider variety of shoes, as well as socks and underwear. It plans to design and sell even more products that will be comfortable, sustainable, and functional.

VTEX Raises $225 Million Amidst Booming Demand for Ecommerce

Companies across industries have been scrambling to connect with consumers virtually during the pandemic. VTEX, a company that develops cloud-based ecommerce solutions, is stepping in to help them. VTEX recently raised $225 million in a new funding round which brought its valuation to $1.7 billion. Tiger Global and Lone Pine Capital co-led the round with participation from several other investors.

VTEX got its start helping Walmart with its ecommerce operations in Brazil. Since then, the company has worked with Sony (SNE), Whirlpool (WHR), Coca-Cola (KO), and other big names in markets around the world. Analysts expect that many consumers will stick with online shopping habits they formed during the pandemic, which will mean that demand for ecommerce will continue to rise. For this reason, VTEX may be positioned for even more growth.

Online Investment Platform Rally Raises $17 Million

Rally, a startup with a unique strategy for helping people invest, just raised $17 million in new funding. The company has created a platform on which people who own rare collectables can list items and other people can invest money in them. Rally started three years ago and mainly dealt with classic cars. Since then, it has incorporated wine, sports memorabilia, watches, and other items into its platform.

People can make investments of as little as $1 on Rally and the average Rally investor is just 27 years old. The company reports it has about 200,000 users and transactions on the platform have climbed by about 195% in the past 12 months.

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