Castore secures £145m investment

Castore, the performance sportswear brand and technology-enabled, end-to-end digital platform for global sports teams, has secured significant growth investment in a funding round led by Raine Partners, The Raine Group’s flagship growth equity fund. The £145m investment round will support Castore’s efforts to continue to “disrupt the premium sportswear market and global team sports landscape”. The Raine Group is a global strategic advisory and investment firm specialised in media, entertainment and sports. Hanaco Ventures and Felix Capital also participated in the investment through their respective growth funds. In addition, the capital raise will enable Castore to further develop the breadth and reach of its mainline product range as the company aims to become the UK’s leading sports and athleisure brand. Castore will also continue to invest in its people and infrastructure systems, so they are able to support the business’ growth ambitions, enhancing its supply chain and data analytics capabilities. To date, Castore has partnered with 50 franchises globally. The business continues to record strong growth and is on track to achieve record revenues and profits in 2023. Tom and Phil Beahon, founders of Castore, said: “We are delighted to have secured the backing of highly reputable equity partners that will add significant value to all aspects of Castore’s business model – our team relationships, our sportswear brand and our omni-channel retail operations. “We are confident these are the right investors to take us to the next stage of our growth, who share our passion for high quality sports apparel, and, in addition to capital, will bring expertise and access to new markets.” The added: "This investment will give us the financial firepower to invest in our supply chain and enhance our data analytics capabilities. There is huge demand out there for Castore and this will enable us to continue to deliver great products, service and choice to our sports industry partners and consumers, and to take on the established players in the global sports apparel market. We are very proud of the progress made, but we – and the full Castore team - are just getting started!” Jason Schretter, partner of The Raine Group, said:“Castore is an insurgent sportswear brand that sits at the intersection of sports, premium brands, data analytics and e-commerce. Raine and our fellow coinvestors’ 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.”