StockX becomes fashion’s new unicorn, valued at 1 billion US dollars

StockX has secured 110 million US dollars in a series C funding round led by DST Global, General Atlantic, and GGV Capital, bringing the company’s value to 1 billion US dollars. Current investors GV and Battery Ventures also participated in the new funding round. The news comes just nine months after StockX scored 44 million US dollars to expand into Europe. Previous investors include rapper Eminem, actor Mark Wahlberg and model Karlie Kloss.

Launched in February 2016, StockX is an online platform where coveted sneakers, watches, handbags and streetwear are treated as stocks, with a bid and ask price for every product, a running ticker for every model, and indexes for the major brands. Anonymous buyers and sellers are provided with real-time pricing, live bids and asks, market analysis, individual portfolio tracking, and volume metrics, as well as timestamped transactions. The company also guarantees the authenticity of the products by physically inspecting them.

The platform is used monthly by users from nearly 200 countries -- eight million people use the website every month in the US alone, generating more than 2 million dollars in sales daily, according to a recent statement.

StockX to diversify product categories and open brick and mortar stores

StockX said in a press statement that it intends to use the capital it just received to further expand its international growth, with a focus on Europe and Asia. The company also wants to diversify its product categories and extend its offline reach with brick and mortar stores in key international markets.

"GGV Capital has long seen the value of investing in e-commerce disruptors and StockX is no exception. It is more than a marketplace; the platform's unique model is truly changing the way consumers engage in the purchasing process and has global growth potential," said Hans Tung, managing partner at GGV Capital, in the same statement. "StockX has already seen incredible growth internationally but what we are most excited about is the opportunity to continue to scale the company globally and provide unprecedented access to consumer goods for users across the world."

Tung will join StockX's board of directors as part of the transaction.

StockX gets new CEO

The company has also announced that co-founder Josh Lube is stepping down from the role of CEO to give way to Scott Cutler, who’s joining StockX from eBay, where he most recently served as Senior Vice President for the Americas. Prior to working at eBay, Cutler served as the President of StubHub, a ticket marketplace, and the President of the New York Stock Exchange, where he oversaw over 1 trillion in capital market financings and the IPOs of several tech companies, including Linkedin, Twitter and Alibaba. Lube will continue to serve on StockX’s executive leadership team and the board of directors, which Cutler is also joining.

"Scott and I met just two days after StockX went live", said Lube in a statement. “He understood the power of a 'stock market of things' and quickly became a friend and trusted advisor. Over the three years that followed, as the business scaled rapidly, Greg [Schwartz, StockX co-founder and COO] and I had the idea that Scott might one day be the perfect CEO to take us to the next level”.

Pictures: Facebook StockX, screenshot StockX website