Kiwi brand-tracking startup Tracksuit has announced it has raised $22 million in its latest funding round, led by Silicon-Valley based firms Altos Ventures and Footwork.
The funding marks the company’s second external investment, reaching a valuation of $152 million and achieving $10 million ARR in just under three years. High profile investors who also participated in the round include Allbirds co-founder Tim Brown; leading Australian skincare brand and existing Tracksuit customer, Frank Body co-founder Bree Johnson; and Lenny Rachitsky (ex-Airbnb and founder of Lenny’s Newsletter).
Tracksuit says it will use the funding to continue to power its brand tracking solution, while supercharging growth into the US and UK market.
“Our goal with Tracksuit was to improve upon the traditional market research model by making it much easier to understand and way more affordable — reshaping the future of marketing and market research,” said Connor Archbold, co-founder and co-CEO of Tracksuit.
“We’ve built our platform on best-in-class methodology, and this strategic funding further validates our ambition to be the common language to measure, understand, and communicate the value of brand.
“It’s an incredibly exciting time at Tracksuit where we’re moving from experimentation to building and scaling. We’re over the moon to have the support and belief of our incredible investors, as we continue to help the most exciting brands today become the iconic brands of tomorrow.”
Bree Johnson, co-founder of Frank Body, said “It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Tracksuit. Having used the technology at Frank Body and experiencing first hand the impact it had on our business, it was a no brainer to invest in their team and their vision. I feel very honoured to come along for the ride, and look forward to seeing Tracksuit change the way people view brand and marketing.”
Anthony Lee, Altos Ventures managing director, said “Altos invests in global companies with the potential for long-term, sustainable growth. Tracksuit has created a simple, beautiful solution to a very real problem, and we’ve heard from many customers who love the product. We were impressed by their early traction across four markets, all while being super efficient and maintaining a bootstrapped mindset.”
Lee will also be joining Tracksuit’s board to provide deep expertise and guidance as Tracksuit focuses on US expansion for 2024. He will join Blackbird General Partner Samantha Wong on the board, while Footwork’s Co-Founder and General Partner Mike Smith will join as board observer. Marketing legend Mark Ritson also joins the ranks as a formal advisor.
“We’re excited now to see US companies adopting Tracksuit’s affordable, always-on solution to track the growth of their brands and empower their marketing teams to make data-driven decisions,” adds Lee.
“Our partner Nikhil was lucky enough to invest in Canva in their seed round a decade ago, and since then Tracksuit is the most special culture we’ve heard about ‘down under’,” said Mike Smith, co-founder and general partner at Footwork and former COO of Walmart.com and Stitch Fix. “The business has exceptional signs of product-market fit — not just as a company based in New Zealand, but compared to others around the world.”
Tracksuit was founded in 2021 by co-CEOs Matt Herbert and Connor Archbold. Headquartered in Auckland with offices in Sydney, the UK and NYC, the startup has grown to more than 60 full-time employees, and is now tracking over 4000 brands across five geographies: New Zealand, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Tracksuit’s Kiwi customers include brands such as Goodman Fielder, Sharesies and Allpress. Globally, they also work with leading companies including MyFitnessPal, Supergoop, SkillShare, and Steve Madden.
The company’s total funding to date now sits at around $29.6 million, with existing investors Blackbird, Icehouse Ventures, Ascential and Shasta Ventures also participating in the series A round.
