Investment to Accelerate Growth and Expand Marketplace Offerings
MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / May 6, 2022 / The Cobblers, a Miami-based technology company offering a one-of-kind marketplace to restore leather goods, announced the closing of $8M in seed financing. The lead investor, Fil Rouge Capital, was joined by EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW), a leading provider of pawn transactions in the United States and Latin America, and Michael Karp, Chairman & Co-Founder of Hotwire Communications. K20 and Diaspora Ventures are also investing in this round. The investment will be used to continue optimizing the marketplace IT platform, expand the number of artisans, increase marketing spend, grow geographically, and broaden the service offering.
The Cobblers has established itself as a leading innovator in Fash-Tech by providing leather restoration artisans an opportunity to launch or expand their businesses on The Cobblers marketplace. In addition to providing a traditional direct-to-consumer offering, The Cobblers, also works directly with many of the world's leading luxury brands and department stores providing world-class restoration services to their customers. The results include improved economics for the artisans, broader availability of leather restoration services for consumers across the United States, a vastly improved - and digitized - customer experience and turn-around time, and very importantly, reduced environmental waste by extending the life of a range of products.
Warren Barthes, Founder of The Cobblers, stated, "The funding validates our strategy and will allow us to continue growing our offering and commitment to our customers and the artisan community." He added, "Each of the new investors offers The Cobblers something special and we look forward to tapping into them for expertise and new business opportunities." Mr. Barthes is an experienced entrepreneur having founded and sold several companies, including Next Wireless Group in 2018 to Brightstar Corp., at the time a subsidiary of investment giant SoftBank (SFTBY). He ended by sharing "in part through Mayor Suarez's efforts, Miami has become a center of innovation and technology and The Cobblers will both contribute to and benefit from that."
"The Cobblers success story is a shining example of what the Miami Movement is all about: a Miami-based company that bands together craftsmanship and technology so more artisans can offer their services to customers in an efficient, elegant, and climate-conscious way. I am looking forward to seeing how this company grows into the future and leads the way in the new circular, technology-based economy that we are transitioning to" said Mayor Francis Suarez.
The Cobblers is a perfect example of how a Miami-based company is hacking a problem, in this case within the fashion and retail industries.
"We are very excited to lead this investment round," claimed Julien Coustaury, Founding Partner of Fil Rouge Capital. He added, "As we look to the future companies that support sustainability are critical and we believe the management team at The Cobblers is building a differentiated and unique offering within the circular economy with a tremendous amount of upside." He added, "In addition, our investment has provided for a European headquarters in Croatia and the framework for growth in new markets."
Lachie Given, Chief Executive officer of EZCORP, added, "This is an exciting strategic investment for EZCORP. We look forward to building a successful operating partnership with The Cobblers that enhances the value of specific goods in our stores and helps to further drive our collective commitment to ESG and the circular economy."
The Cobblers currently operates in the United States but anticipates expanding to Canada, Europe, Oceania and Asia soon.
Additional Information:
Rafael de Guzman
Email: r.deguzman@thecobblers..com
Mob: (305) 987-5121
SOURCE: The Cobblers
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