Rockets of Awesome is a rapidly growing children’s subscription clothing company that was founded by CEO Rachel Blumenthal. Blumenthal has lots of experience building world-class brands — which is why Rockets Of Awesome is quickly becoming a household name.
For example, Blumenthal worked as the founder and CEO of Rachel Leigh LLC, a fashion jewelry brand sold in over 300 stores. And she also founded an e-commerce company called Cricket’s Circle that features a checklist of what expectant parents should buy. Blumenthal’s husband Neil Blumenthal is the co-founder and co-CEO of eyewear giant Warby Parker.
Photo: Rachel Blumenthal via LinkedIn
After receiving user feedback, Blumenthal learned that it still becomes a challenge shopping for kids for parents as they get past the car seat and stroller phase. And taking kids shopping at stores becomes increasingly frustrating as kids outgrow clothes quickly. This is what inspired the creation of Rockets of Awesome.
Parents who sign up for Rockets of Awesome are asked to take a short quiz about their style preferences. And Rockets of Awesome delivers a personalized box every season with over-the-top children’s clothes. Each of the boxes includes 8 pieces of Rockets of Awesome clothing (and occasional accessories) that are selected based on “Style Files.” From there, you can keep the items you like and send back the ones that you don’t want. Then you just have to pay for the items you keep. The price of each item ranges at between $16 to $38. And if you decide to keep everything that was sent, then you pay $150.
Through a subsidiary, footwear retailer Foot Locker announced it made a $12.5 million minority investment in Launch Kids Inc. (d/b/a Rockets of Awesome). Foot Locker’s investment is part of Rocket of Awesome’s $19.5 million Series C. This round of funding also included participation from existing investors including General Catalyst, Forerunner Ventures, and August Capital. Including this funding round, Rockets of Awesome raised $49 million total.
With this funding round, Rockets of Awesome will have the resources to build out an integrated omnichannel customer experience. And the funding will also enable them to continue scaling at a fast rate. Blumenthal also told Crunchbase News that the money will also go towards opening the company’s first “standalone retail location.”
“Our partnership with Foot Locker is a powerful validation of Rockets of Awesome’s ongoing progress in our mission to simplify parents’ lives and enable them to celebrate real life with their kids,” said Blumenthal. “With Foot Locker’s support, we look forward to bringing our unique, high-quality merchandise and convenient shopping experience to even more families everywhere.”
Foot Locker’s investment in Rockets of Awesome was also strategic as Kids Foot Locker will create exclusive Rockets of Awesome shop-in-shop destinations and will become the largest retailer of Rockets of Awesome products in the U.S. Plus Rockets of Awesome merchandise will also be available on kidsfootlocker.com.
“Rockets of Awesome is advancing the way parents shop for their kids and Foot Locker is committed to evolving with the ever-changing retail landscape and adjusting to the speed of our customers,” added Foot Locker chairman and CEO Richard Johnson. “We are excited that our partnership with Rockets of Awesome will enable Kids Foot Locker to deliver new, innovative products and experiences. We look forward to collaborating with them on brand development, product collections, and go-to-market plans to help realize additional growth for both companies.”
