Catch Co. started in 2012 with a monthly fish tackle subscription box called the Mystery Tackle Box. Eventually, the company grew to include its own online fishing marketplace, original video content series, a line of fishing bait and several fishing equipment collaborations with other brands in the space.
Now the brand is ready to continue that expansion thanks to a fresh funding round. On Friday, Catch Co. announced that it closed a $38 million Series B led by True Ventures. This brings the company’s total funding raised to $56 million since launch.
Although fishing has been around since the early days of humanity, fishing as a hobby had a noticeable boost in 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to shut down and prevented people from congregating in large groups, many relied on solitary and outdoorsy activities like fishing to fill their free time.
This may be the reason why Catch Co. saw a surge in demand last year. The company reported 100 percent revenue growth in 2020 compared to 2019. This jump in revenue may also be due to the fact that many e-commerce sites — like the one Catch Co. manages — got a boost as more people shopped online instead of in stores.
Catch Co. is already seeing this momentum continue in 2021. The company estimates it will ship more than three million of its Mystery Tackle Boxes this year to its customers.
The new Series B funding will help fuel this growth. It will also allow Catch Co. to build upon its brand. This includes signing new partnerships with third-party retailers, expanding into new product verticals and creating content for its millions of social media followers.
Catch Co. also says that it plans to grow its team. The company currently has over a dozen open roles across all sides of the business — from marketing to engineering, design, operations and more.
“I could not be more excited to partner with True Ventures in helping us realize our purpose of rescuing people from the indoors,” Catch Co. founder and CEO Ross Gordon said in a statement. “Their passion for the outdoors and ability to help amazing companies scale were both clear from our very first conversation.”
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